ALUMINUM LEVELS IN ITALIAN DIETS AND IN SELECTED FOODS FROM ALUMINUM UTENSILS

In Italy, data on aluminium concentration in food items we scarce alth ough aluminium containers are widely used to cook, to freeze or to wra p foods (foil) and it is known that aluminium can migrate from contain ers to foods. Therefore, an experimental study was carried out to quan tify aluminium exposure from ingestion of actual total diets and from migration from containers to foods in conditions representative of the actual use. Samples of 24 h diets were collected, homogenized, lyophi lized and the amount of aluminium was determined by atomic absorption spectrometry. The aluminium concentrations ranged from 1.0 to 2.1 mg/k g of food; the intake of aluminium ranged from 2.5 to 6.3 mg/day. The amount of aluminium migrating from aluminium cookware was determined b y cooking various representative foods in aluminium and in glass or st ainless steel containers. From comparison of the results, the increas e in aluminium because of migration from cookware was relatively low, with the highest release into acidic and salty foods. The daily intake of aluminium even if all the foods were prepared and stored in alumin ium containers would be approximately 6 mg/day, a very low value compa red with the Provisional Tolerable Weekly Intake of 7 mg/kg body weigh t (equivalent to 60 mg/day for an adult man) established by the Joint FAO/WHO Expert Committee on Food Additives.