Effect of sous-vide heat treatment on the phthalic acid esters content in meat

The aim of the study was to monitor the migration of the phthalic acid esters dibutyl phthalate (DBP) and di-2-ethylhexyl phthalate (DEHP) from packaging to meat wrapped in plastic when heat treated by sous-vide method. A heat treatment temperature of 80 °C was used for 4 and 8 hours with reheating at 80 °C for 1 hour. The average DBP and DEHP concentrations in meat ranged from 2.24 to 4.66 mg.kg and 2.29 to 10.35 mg.kg of the original sample, respectively. The average DBP and DEHP concentrations found in plastic packaging ranged from 3.06 to 6.37 μg.g and 5.70 to 7.83 μg.g of plastic, respectively. The average concentrations of DBP in water bath range from 16.25 to 23.38 μg.l, while the average concentrations of DEHP in water bath were determined between 0.24 and 1.82 μg.l. The above results were compared with the results measured at sous-vide treatment temperature of 70 °C for 4 hours, 8 hours, and with 1 hour of reheating. The average concentrations of DBP and DEHP in all meat samples exceeded the specific migration limits of both phthalates (0.3 mg.kg for DBP and 1.5 mg.kg for DEHP).