MUTAGEN FORMATION IN BEEFBURGERS PROCESSED BY FRYING OR MICROWAVE WITH USE OF FLAVORING AND BROWNING AGENTS

Traditional frying produced mutagens in a dose-dependent manner (0.5-4 .0g equivalents of beefburger extract) as detected by Salmonella typhi murium strains TA97 and TA98 (sensitive to frame-shift mutagens). Muta genicity was associated with beefburger crusts. In beef burgers cooked by microwave, in presence or absence of browning agent and flavoring, bacterial mutagens were not detected at equivalent dose concentration s. In addition to reduction of mutagen formation, microwave cooking pr oduced an equally acceptable product as judged by limited flavor testi ng.