Overview
Lenti and colleagues measured lead by ICP-MS in 48 jars of ready-to-eat wild boar meat sauce (ragù) from 16 brands sold in Italy in 2020. Lead varied widely: most jars were near or below 0.10 mg/kg, but single batches reached several milligrams per kilogram, which the authors attribute to fragments of lead hunting ammunition. Neither the wild boar meat share, the brand nor the processing region explained the variation.
Key numbers
- All 48 samples: median “0.10 mg/kg (0.01-18.3 mg/kg)”; 23 of 48 above 0.10 mg/kg (Table 1, p. 4).
- Highest single batches: 18.3, 9.00, 5.80, 1.60 and 1.30 mg/kg (Table 1; Results, p. 5).
- Brand E mean “6.16 ± 10.5” mg/kg across three batches (Table 1).
- Median by processing region: Emilia-Romagna 0.05, Toscana 0.15, Trentino Alto-Adige 0.09 mg/kg (Results, p. 5).
Methods (brief)
Each jar was homogenized; two 3 g subsamples were digested in nitric acid and analyzed by ICP-MS. The method was validated to EU Regulation 333/2007 with an LOQ of 0.005 mg/kg, recoveries above 80 percent, a bovine liver reference material in every batch and proficiency testing.
Evidence Fitness
Strong analytical QA and an as-sold basis, with three batches per brand. The distribution is highly skewed by a few contaminated batches, so means overstate typical levels and medians understate the tail. This is a direct measurement of a meat-based pasta sauce. For brown-gravy it is only a proxy (a meat sauce, not gravy), and that page is not linked.