Impact of different pan-frying conditions on the formation of heterocyclic aromatic amines and sensory quality in fried bacon

Heterocyclic aromatic amines (HAAs) are formed in the crust of cooked meat products. Most HAAs are carcinogenic in long-term animal studies. Besides precursors in raw materials, important factors are temperature and heating time. Bacon slices were investigated for concentrations of HAAs after pan-frying under different monitored heating conditions. Two HAAs, MeIQx (2-amino-3,8-dimethylimidazo [4,5-f]quinoxaline) (1.5–5.6 ng/g) and PhIP (2-amino-1-methyl-6-phenylimidazo[4,5-b]pyridine) (0.1–2.6 ng/g), were found in pan-fried bacon slices. The bacon clearly contained higher concentrations of HAAs both with longer frying times and at temperatures of 200–220 °C rather than 150–170 °C, respectively. A similar continuous increase of the concentrations was observed for norharman (5.0–19.9 ng/g) and harman (0.3–1.7 ng/g). The sensory evaluation, using a hedonic test design for colour and flavour, of the pan-fried bacon slices resulted in a preferred frying time of 5 min at 150–170 °C. However, some testers clearly preferred crispy and darker bacon slices containing higher HAA concentrations.