The Elemental Profile of Beer Available on Polish Market: Analysis of the Potential Impact of Type of Packaging Material and Risk Assessment of Consumption

Twenty-five elements, including the most essential and toxic metals, were determined in fifty beer samples stored in cans and bottles by Inductively Coupled Plasma Mass Spectrometry (ICP-MS), Inductively Coupled Plasma Optical Emission Spectroscopy (ICP-OES) and Cold Vapor Atomic Absorption Spectroscopy (CVAAS) techniques. The packaging material was analyzed using the Scanning Electron Microscopy with Energy Dispersive Spectroscopy (SEM-EDS) technique. The control of the level of individual metals is necessary, not only to maintain the organoleptic properties of the product, but also to fulfill the standards regarding the permissible maximum concentrations. Metals can originate from different sources, including the brewing water, malt grains, hops, adjuncts, fruits, and spices. They may also come from contamination from the brewery equipment, i.e., vessels and tanks, including beer packing, storing and transporting (kegs, casks, cans). Discriminant analysis revealed that the differentiation of three types of beer (Lager, Ale, Craft) was possible, based on elemental concentrations, for the reduced data set after their selection using the Kruskal-Wallis test. The analysis of the impact of the packaging material (can or bottle) proved that when this parameter was used as a differentiating criterion, the difference in the content of Na, Al, Cu and Mn can be indicated. The risk assessment analysis showed that the consumption of beer in a moderate quantity did not have any adverse effect in terms of the selected element concentrations, besides Al. However, in the case of Al, the risk related to consumption can be considered, but only for the beer stored in cans produced from aluminum.