Aluminium leaching from aluminium cooking utensils into foods.

ABSTRACT

Leaching of aluminium content from those aluminium utensils into foods could have an effect on health. Study on factors affecting the leaching amount of aluminium from the aluminium cooking utensils into food being cooked was undertaken. For types of foods were cooked using alminium cooking utensils under different conditions as follows sour soup cooked at pH of 3.0 and 4.0; clear soup cooked with salinity of 4.0 and 8.0 ppt; fish fried for 4 and 6 minutes; and swamp cabbage (Chinese) stir fired at temperature of 200 oC and 300oC. Stainless-steel cooking utensils were used as control units. All the cooked foods were analyzed for aluminium content by means of atomic absorption spectrophotometry. Results revealed that pH level of foods as well as cooking temperature affected the amount of aluminium leaching from the aluminium cooking utensils into foods; that is aluminium content increased with lower pH or higher temperature. In contrast, neither level of salinity of foods nor cooking time affected the aluminium content leaching from the aluminium cooking utensils into foods. In general, the amount f aluminium leaching from aluminium utensils into foods being cooked was not found to be high in this study.