LAUSR

This study investigated the acrylamide (AA) and heterocyclic aromatic amines (HAAs) exposure, according to age groups, estimated using a food frequency questionnaire study in combination with analytical data on AA and HAAs levels of chicken drumsticks (CDs), chicken wings (CWs), chicken burgers (CBs), and chicken nuggets (CNs), collected from fast food restaurants. The average AA amount estimated in CDs, CWs, CBs, and CNs was 174.30, 20.75, 58.60, and 71.42 µg/kg coating, respectively, and the corresponding 2-amino-3,8-dimethylimidazo[4,5-f]quinoxaline (MeIQx) amounts were 16.37, 34.80, 4.31, and 8.46 µg/kg meat. The estimated maximum total exposure to AA and MeIQx was 17.11 and 10.70 ng/kg of body weight per day (bw/day), respectively, for participants aged 15–25 years. Regarding all age groups, the contribution of the various chicken products to the combined AA intake, ranked in decreasing order of CDs > CNs > CBs > CWs. The corresponding alignment for the contribution to the combined MeIQx intake from the various chicken products decreased in the order of CWs > CDs > CNs > CBs. In conclusion, our findings showed that younger people aged 15–25 years, are exposed to a twofold higher AA and MeIQx intake when compared with people aged 26–35 years, due to their higher consumption rate of breaded chicken products.