Apart from
sensory attractive compounds (mainly phenol derivatives, carbonyls,
organic acids, lactones, etc.), smoke also contains hazardous
compounds such as polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons
(PAH) which are recognised as dangerous food contaminants, due
to their known (or suspected) carcinogenicity and/or mutagenicity
(European Food Safety Authority, 2008). Intensity of formation and
final content of PAH in smoked foods depends on various factors,
e.g., conditions of smoke generation, exposure of smoked products
to daylight (the light initialises oxidation processes of PAH deposited
on the surface of smoked products with their subsequent photolytic
decomposition).