Determination of Zinc and Copper micronutrients and Lead and Cadmium contaminants in non-alcoholic malt beverages by anodic stripping voltammetry

Non-alcoholic malt beverages are nutritional soft drinks and suitable to replace with alcoholic drinks due to increased public concern about harms associated with synthetic sugars and alcohol. Malt beverages are rich sources for minerals such as zinc and copper, two essential minerals for normal human body functions. However, malt beverages may contain high levels of heavy metals, including lead and cadmium. Anodic Stripping Voltammetry was used to determine concentrations of these elements in non-alcoholic malt. Non-alcoholic malt beverages of 119 bottles representing 13 different brands in 11 different flavors were purchased from the market in Tehran. The mean concentration of zinc, copper, lead and cadmium were 1.34±1.00, 0.51±0.05, 0.04±0.02 and 0.05±0.03 mg/100 ml respectively. The results indicated that zinc and copper concentrations found in the malt beverages were too low to promote the beverages as sources of zinc and copper. Levels of lead and cadmium were below acceptable daily intake (ADI) established by the US Food and Drug Administration, which may alleviate concerns regarding heavy metal intake and malt beverages. The result of this study showed that malt beverages might be enriched with zinc and copper to be considered important sources for the minerals. Additionally, it can also be concluded that despite the differences between flavors and brands were not meaningful, but the bigger sample size may definite that brand 3 has the most micronutrients and the classic or plain flavored beverage has the least amount of Cd and Pb.