Determination of high molecular mass polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons in a typical Italian smoked cheese by HPLC-FL.

High-performance liquid chromatography with fluorescence detection was used for the analysis of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), in "Diavoletto" smoked cheese. Such cheese is typically produced in the Sorrento peninsula, and it is smoked commonly with different materials of vegetable origin. The importance of the smoking generation material is proven by the attention that the EU is paying in indicating the list of wood that may be used to produce smoking flavor agents. The PAHs considered are classified as "probable human carcinogens" by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency for sufficient data from animal bioassays. The smoked samples contained high molecular mass PAHs with different levels ranging from 0.12 to 6.21 microg/kg. The determination was carried out also on liquid smoking flavor agents, smoke-flavored cheese, and nonsmoked cheese to measure the level of contamination before the treatment.