Nε-(carboxymethyl)lysine content of foods commonly consumed in a Western style diet

The potential adverse effects on health of diet-derived advanced glycation end-products (AGEs) is of current interest, due to their proposed involvement in the disease progression of diabetic and uraemic conditions. However, accurate information about levels of AGEs in foods is lacking. The objective of this investigation was to determine the level of one particular AGE, Nε-(carboxymethyl)lysine (CML), a marker of AGE formation, in a wide range of foods commonly consumed in a Western style diet. Individual foods (n = 257) were mixed, lyophilised, ground, reduced, fat-extracted, hydrolysed, and underwent solid-phase extraction. Extracts were analysed by ultra-performance liquid chromatography–tandem mass spectrometry (UPLC–MS/MS). Cereal (2.6 mg/100 g food) and fruit and vegetable (0.13 mg/100 g food) categories had the highest and lowest mean level of CML, respectively, when expressed in mg/100 g food. These data can be used for estimating potential consumer intakes, and provide information that can be used to educated consumers on how to reduce their CML intake.