Published Paper Details:

Metals can be found in all type of food articles. The occurrence of heavy metals like arsenic, cadmium, lead, and mercury are of special concern as these metals have no beneficial properties towards human beings. Also at a minimum, these heavy metals, with accumulative tendencies, are toxic and therefore impose a significant impact on food quality and food safety. The heavy metal toxicity in food is affected by many factors, from natural conditions, during production, to storage, packing, preparation and cooking techniques after harvest. Metal content is higher in certain crops grown in polluted soils or environments. Post-harvest handling measures like washing usually eliminate metal pollutants, whereas cooking can decrease or increase the metal content. The effects of novel food processing techniques (microwave heating, high pressure processing, pulsed electric field, etc.) on toxic metal content will be discussed in this review paper.