In order to protect consumers from PAH contamination, laws
and codes of best practices in food processing have been proposed.
Regulation (EU) No. 835/2011 of 19 August 2011 (EC, 2011) has
recently reduced the maximum permissible content in BaP (a
marker of the presence of PAH) in smoked meat and smoked meat
products from 5.0 to 2.0 mg/kg in wet weight from 1/9/2014 on.
The permissible sum of PAH4 (benzo(a)pyrene, benzo(a)anthracene,
benzo(b)fluoranthene and chrysene) in these foods has been
reduced from 30.0 to 12.0 mg/kg in wet weight from 1/9/2014 on.
The “Code of practice for the reduction of contamination of food
with (PAH) from smoking and direct drying processes” (CAC/RCP
68/2009) advocates the control of certain variables to prevent PAH
contamination. A number of studies have been carried out to test
these variables, including the kind of fuel