Vitamin E contents of processed meats blended with palm oils

The vitamin E contents of beef burgers and chicken frankfurters blended with palm oil (PO) were determined. PO and red PO cooked beef burgers resulted in a significant (P � 0.05) loss of vitamin E from 427.5 to 178.0 mg/g and from 367.0 to 271.0 mg/g, respectively, after 6 months of storage. The concentration of alpha-tocopherol (a-tocopherol) for all retorted chicken frankfurters was reduced (P � 0.05) by 66.0–91.50 (16–46%) mg/g while the alpha-tocotrienol (a-tocotrienol) in all retorted chicken frankfurters significantly decreased (P � 0.05) by 63.0–95.5 mg/g (28–48%) after 6 months of storage. Both a-tocopherol and a-tocotrienol decreased at a faster rate (62– 64% and 53–61% loss, respectively) and was less stable than the gammatocotrienol (12–59%) and the delta-tocotrienol (4–28%) in beef burgers. The effect of processing, cooking, frozen storage and the type of fats used could influence vitamin E stability and content in meat products

Would it still be possible to identify irradiated lipid-containing foods towards the end of their shelf-life?

The current British and European Standard (BS EN1785: 2003) for the identification of gamma irradiated foods is based on the isolation and detection of a group of lipid derived 2-alkylcyclobutanone compounds that are formed following irradiation. The 2-alkylcyclobutanones (2-dodecylcyclobutanone {DCB}, and 2-tetradecylcyclobutanone {TCB}) have been validated as radiolytic markers in the routine chemical identification of irradiated foods. This study was carried out with the view to answering a key question in relation to the fate of irradiated foods post irradiation and during storage; would it still be possible to correctly identify foods as having being irradiated towards the end of their shelf-life? Chemical detection method was employed to closely follow and plot the loss of each of these radiolytic markers throughout shelf-life. Significant levels of DCB and TCB were detected in all irradiated beef samples, which have been stored over 12-month period. Despite the considerable drop in the levels of both markers with time, it was still possible to detect both markers and therefore confirm that the stored samples had in fact been previously irradiated. These reported findings confer additional traceability choice to the global market of irradiated foods that may consequently, raise confidences among concerned parties