Cadmium and lead in pork and duck liver pastes produced in Spain.

Cadmium and lead contents were determined in pork and duck liver pastes produced in Spain. The average concentration levels that were measured were 19 ng/g for cadmium and 578 ng/g for lead in pork liver pastes and 14 ng/g for cadmium and 157 ng/g for lead in duck liver pastes. The possible sources of these trace elements were investigated: product formulation, technological process and packaging. It has been observed that the contents of lead in pork liver pastes are higher than would be expected from the liver content alone, and that the main source of lead is the tin container.