Aluminum in food : Dietary exposure among adolescent residents in the food catering establishments in Alexandria, Egypt

Cooking in aluminum utensils is an avoidable common source of exposure. A dietary aluminum exposure assessment survey was conducted over nine consecutive weeks based on a previously pre-weighed standard menu provided to the adolescent residents in the six food catering establishments in Alexandria, Egypt. A total of 1080 food samples, 20 samples from different food items from each establishment were randomly collected over 9 consecutive weeks. Aluminum level was determined using ICP-MS. Weekly dietary aluminum intake of an adolescent resident weighed 60 kg was estimated to be 2.2 mg/kg bw/week which exceeded the provisional Tolerable Weekly Intake value (2 mg/kg bw/week) established by the Joint Food and Agriculture Organization/World Health Organization Expert Committee. Cooked vegetables (46.2%) contributed most to the dietary intake, followed by kochari (27.5%). In the meantime, such type of utensils should be avoided, at least for preparing strong acidic food and beverages. Keywords: aluminum; aluminum cookware; dietary intake; risk assessment