Evaluation of the lead and chromium content of canned sardines.

• Main Authors: Lim, Gilbert O., Valdez, Melissa Joy V., Visaya, Mariano L.,, III.
• Format: text
• Language: English
• Published: Animo Repository 2000
• Subjects: Canned sardines; Canning and preserving > Seafood.; Biochemical and Biomolecular Engineering
• Online Access: https://animorepository.dlsu.edu.ph/etd_bachelors/10293
• Institution: De La Salle University

The canning of sardines consists of an intricate series of processes. With increasing industrial pollution that may contaminate the fish in bodies of water and the water used for processing, there is a great probability that sardines could be contaminated with lead or chromium. Migration of lead or chromium from food containers into the sardines may occur during processing, storage and preparation operations. Furthermore, the length of time before the sardines are consumed may be correlated with its metal content. Three brands of sardines were tested for their lead and chromium content. Nine cans of sardines in tomato sauce and another nine in chili sauce for each of the three brands were analyzed thus, a total of 54 samples were collected. During each month of the three-month experimentation period, a total of 18 cans were opened (3 sardines in tomato sauce and 3 sardines in chili sauce for each brand). To ensure relative uniformity of the samples, the nine samples for each brand and type had the same manufacturing date. In evaluating the possible factors that may affect the migration of lead from the container to its contents, the pH of the product and the average temperature of storage were also considered. The average pH of the different brands ranged from 5.47 to 5.70. The samples were stored in a room with a temperature ranging from 28-32 centigrade. No leaching of lead and chromium occurred during the experimentation period. This is evidenced by the fact that the metal concentrations remained nearly the same over time. In the event that leaching did occur, the rate may have been too slow over a span of 50 days with the samples stored at room temperature and having an average pH of 5.5-.7. Thus, the amount of lead or chromium that may have migrated from the container to the food was insignificant. Although the sardines analyzed for each graph were processed on the same date, the variety of possible sources of lead and chromium outweighted the probability that lead or chromium migration, if any, would predominate. Brand B had the highest lead and chromium content for sardines in chili sauce and in tomato sauce.