All Stories
Follow
Subscribe to Technische Universität München

Technische Universität München

Benzene in cherry flavor - where it comes from and how to avoid it

TECHNICAL UNIVERSITY OF MUNICH

Corporate Communications Center

phone: +49 89 289 10510 - e-mail: presse@tum.de - web: www.tum.de

This text on the web: https://www.tum.de/nc/en/about-tum/news/press-releases/details/35952/

High resolution images: https://mediatum.ub.tum.de/1542514

NEWS RELEASE

Flavor research for consumer protection

Flavorings containing benzaldehyde can develop benzene under the influence of light

In 2013, the Stiftung Warentest found harmful benzene in drinks with cherry flavor. But how did the substance get into the drinks? Was the source benzaldehyde, an essential component of the cherry flavoring? And if so, how could the problem be solved? A new study by the Leibniz-Institute for Food Systems Biology and the Technical University of Munich (TUM) is now able to answer these questions.

According to the German Federal Institute for Risk Assessment (Bundesinstitut für Risikobewertung, BfR), benzene is mainly absorbed by our bodies via the air we breathe. Non-smokers take in an average of 200 micrograms of benzene per day. Smokers take in around ten times as much. But our food can also contain traces of this harmful substance and thus contribute to the exposure.

When the Stiftung Warentest examined soft drinks in 2013, they came across small quantities of benzene. One drink contained just under 4.6 micrograms of benzene per liter. For comparison: In Germany, one liter of drinking water is allowed to contain only 1 microgram of the substance. At that time, experts at the Stiftung Warentest supposed that the odorant benzaldehyde was the cause of the benzene contaminations observed.

"As our research is specialized on odorants, we followed up on this supposition in the interest of consumer protection and at the suggestion of the German Association of the Flavor Industry (Deutscher Verband der Aromenindustrie, DVAI)," says lead author Stephanie Frank from the Leibniz-Institute for Food Systems Biology at the Technical University of Munich.

To do this, the team of scientists first established a reliable, highly sensitive quantitation method of benzene. Then, they carried out experiments with various model solutions which contained benzene-free benzaldehyde. The team also examined cherry juice produced under laboratory conditions, to which they also added the pure odorant.

Light is the crucial factor

"Our findings confirm the assumption of the Stiftung Warentest and also explain how the formation of benzene occurs. An important requirement in solving the problem in the long term," reports food chemist Stephanie Frank.

As the study proves, the longer the odorant is exposed to light, the more benzaldehyde is converted into benzene. But the light intensity is also decisive. In contrast, the pH value, the oxygen content, the presence of metal ions or the temperature did not affect the benzene production in the model solutions.

To the surprise of the researchers, no benzene was formed in the cherry juice produced under laboratory conditions during light exposure. Frank reasons that it is possible that the dark red color of the drink acts as a light protection filter and prevents the formation of benzene. The benzene found in a few soft drinks sold commercially is probably the result of added cherry flavoring which has already been contaminated with benzene.

"This is why we must be sure to protect flavorings containing benzaldehyde from light, from when the substance is produced to when the product is sold, for example, by storing them in amber glass vials," recommends Peter Schieberle, Professor for Food Chemistry at the Technical University of Munich.

Publications:

S. Frank, A. Dunkel, P. Schieberle

Model studies on benzene formation from benzaldehyde

Eur Food Res Technol, 22. Feb. 2020 - DOI: 10.1007/s00217-020-03455-6.

https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s00217-020-03455-6

S. Frank, T. Hofmann, P. Schieberle

Quantitation of benzene in flavourings and liquid foods containing added cherry-type flavour by a careful work-up procedure followed by a stable isotope dilution assay

Eur Food Res and Technol, 245(8): 1605-1610 - DOI: 10.1007/s00217-019-03267-3.

https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s00217-019-03267-3

More information:

Initiated by the research association Forschungskreis der Ernährungsindustrie e.V. (FEI), the research work in project AiF 18813 N was funded by the German Ministry of Economics and Energy based on a decision made by the German Bundestag as part of the program for promoting cooperative industrial research (IGF) via the German Federation of Industrial Research Associations "Otto von Guericke" e.V. (AiF).

High resolution image:

https://mediatum.ub.tum.de/1542514

Contact:

Dr. Gisela Olias

Leibniz-Institute for Food Systems Biology

at the Technical University of Munich

Press & Public Relations

Lise-Meitner-Str. 34, 85354 Freising, Germany

Tel.: +49 8161 71 2980 - E-mail: g.olias.leibniz-lsb@tum.de

Web: https://www.leibniz-lsb.de/en

Dr. Stephanie Frank

Leibniz-Institute for Food Systems Biology

at the Technical University of Munich

Section I / work group Sensory Systems Chemistry

E-Mail: s.frank.leibniz-lsb@tum.de

Prof. Dr. Peter Schieberle

Technical University of Munich

Department of Chemistry

Lichtenbergstr. 4, 85748 Garching, Germany

E-Mail: peter.schieberle@ch.tum.de

The Technical University of Munich (TUM) is one of Europe's leading research universities, with around 600 professors, 43,000 students, and 10,000 academic and non-academic staff. Its focus areas are the engineering sciences, natural sciences, life sciences and medicine, combined with economic and social sciences. TUM acts as an entrepreneurial university that promotes talents and creates value for society. In that it profits from having strong partners in science and industry. It is represented worldwide with the TUM Asia campus in Singapore as well as offices in Beijing, Brussels, Cairo, Mumbai, San Francisco, and São Paulo. Nobel Prize winners and inventors such as Rudolf Diesel, Carl von Linde, and Rudolf Mößbauer have done research at TUM. In 2006, 2012 and 2019 it won recognition as a German "Excellence University." In international rankings, TUM regularly places among the best universities in Germany. www.tum.de

More stories: Technische Universität München
More stories: Technische Universität München
  • 12.03.2020 – 09:12

    A molecular map for the plant sciences

    TECHNICAL UNIVERSITY OF MUNICH Corporate Communications Center phone: +49 8161/ 71-5403 - e-mail: presse@tum.de - web: www.tum.de This text on the web: https://www.tum.de/nc/en/about-tum/news/press-releases/ High resolution images: https://mediatum.ub.tum.de/1540641 NEWS RELEASE First comprehensive map of the proteome of the model plant Arabidopsis thaliana A molecular map for the plant sciences Plants are essential for ...

  • 05.03.2020 – 16:39

    Research towards improved cochlear implants

    TECHNICAL UNIVERSITY OF MUNICH Corporate Communications Center phone: +49 89 289 10808 - e-mail: presse@tum.de - web: www.tum.de This text on the web: https://www.tum.de/nc/en/about-tum/news/press-releases/details/35937/ High resolution images: https://mediatum.ub.tum.de/1540122 NEWS RELEASE Research towards improved cochlear implants Computer model shows neuronal activation patterns in the inner ear Cochlear implants ...