Leaching of aluminium from utensils during cooking of food

Abstract

The use of aluminium utensils for cooking provides an important route for aluminium metal to enter foods. Leaching of aluminium from utensils made of aluminium, indalium (alloy of aluminium), stainless steel and hard anodised aluminium was studied under different conditions of pH and boiling time. Low pH was found to enhance leaching of aluminium from the utensils. The leaching was found to be the highest during first-time preparation (new utensils) of all the foods as compared with second-and third-time preparations using the same utensils. Leaching of aluminium during the preparation of various traditional Indian foods was found to be negligible in hard anodised aluminium utensils, indicating the advantage of using such vessels for food preparation over simple aluminium and indalium utensils. Cereals contribute a smaller amount of aluminium to the total daily intake than legumes.

Aluminium Content in Milk and Milk Products and its Leachability from Dairy Utensils

“…High acidity products such as cheese and yoghurt resulted in greater leaching of aluminium into the food from the utensils. Similar observation has also been reported by Semwal et al (2006). It was also observed that curdling gives rise to increased concentrations of aluminium in the curd and end product compared to raw milk.…”

“…One of the potential sources of additional dietary aluminium is the aluminium utensils (Semwal et al, 2006). The concentrations of aluminium in milk and milk products after processing in aluminium and stainless steel utensils are presented in Table 3.…”

“…Humans are frequently exposed to aluminium, primarily from foods, water, airborne dust and pharmaceuticals (Semwal et al, 2006). Data from several countries summarized that adults are exposed to between 2 and 160 mg aluminium per day from various sources (Soni et al, 2001).…”

“…Additionally aluminium can be introduced into the milk and milk products during the production process or by contamination from the metal processing equipment (Soni et al, 2001;Deeb and Gomaa, 2011). The use of aluminium utensils for processing and storage of milk may increase substantially the level of this metal in milk and milk products (Semwal et al, 2006) and leaching of this metal from utensils is influenced by the quality of the containers, pH level, preparation conditions and the presence of complexing agents (Al Juhaiman, 2010).…”

Aluminum Intoxication through Leaching in Food Preparation

“…Despite being harmless in lower concentrations, high Al intake results in chronic health effects in long run ( Semwal et al, 2006). Use of aluminum utensils for cooking is reported to cause Al ingestion ( Semwal et al, 2006). Major sources of dietary intake include synthetically added aluminum (i.e.…”