Evaluation of Chemical Contaminants in Conventional and Unconventional Ragusana Provola Cheese

Abstract

Organic contaminants belonging to various classes (plasticizers, bisphenols, pesticides, PCBs, and PAHs,) were analyzed in samples of provola cheese produced from Friesian dairy cows fed with a conventional diet (group CTR), and an unconventional diet (group BIO) enriched with olive cake (OC). The results show that for most determined contaminants, the differences between the two diets were very slight, indicating that the contamination does not depend on the olive cake integrated in the unconventional diet. The results also indicate that the minimal contamination could result from environmental contamination or the production process. It can be concluded that unconventional provola is as safe for the consumer as conventional provola.

Determination of Bisphenol a (BPA) migration in Şavak brine cheese stored in polyethylene terephthalate (PET) packaging by HPLC method

“…Liotta et al . (2022) did not detect BPA in provola cheese samples, however, the BPA level in olive cake samples was determined 14.50 ± 0.36 μg/kg. Santonicola et al .…”

“…In a study, BPA was found <0.002 mg/kg in different cheese samples (Beltifa et al 2018). Liotta et al (2022) did not detect BPA in provola cheese samples, however, the BPA level in olive cake samples was determined 14.50 AE 0.36 lg/kg. Santonicola et al (2019) determined an average of 0.757 lg/L BPA in manual milking, 0.580 lg/L BPA in machine milking, and 0.797 lg/L BPA in milk in a cooling tank during the BPA analysis they performed using fluorescent liquid chromatography method on 72 raw milk samples.…”

“…Dairy products hold an essential place in the global economy market due to their high consumption worldwide (Liotta et al 2022;Merlino et al 2022). Among dairy products, cheese contains calcium, phosphorus, riboflavin (Vit B2), vitamin A, and essential amino acids in a sufficient and balanced manner (Tekinsen et al 1997).…”

“…Dairy products can be contaminated from diverse sources, ranging from biological to chemical components. Chemical contamination risks in dairy products may arise from the application of agrochemicals, veterinary drugs, contaminated animal feed, and the use of chemicals during the production, processing, and packaging of the product (Herrero et al 2021;Liang et al 2022;Liotta et al 2022;Schopf et al 2022;Van Asselt et al 2022). Numerous investigations affirm that over 90% of human exposure to such chemical contaminants predominantly happens through the consumption of food (Colles et al 2008).…”

“…Dairy products hold an essential place in the global economy market due to their high consumption worldwide (Liotta et al . 2022; Merlino et al . 2022).…”