The occurrence of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons in Peking duck: Relevance to food safety assessment

Peking duck is one of the most well-known Chinese dishes. GC–MS analysis revealed that, either benzo(a)pyrene alone, or the total amount of major PAHs with carcinogenic potential for humans, reached levels of 8.7 and 54.7 μg/kg, respectively. These levels greatly exceeded those found in grilled poultry in European countries. However, the intake of benzo(a)pyrene from a Peking duck meal (about 0.65 μg) was not higher than that from the daily intake (for residents in the same area) from vegetables alone (about 2 μg/day). Since Peking duck is still not a plebeian meat in this country, people would not consume it very often.