Charcoal- or wood-cooked chicken is a street-vended food in Burkina Faso. In this study,
15 samples of flamed chicken and 13 samples of braised chicken were analyzed for 15 prior-
ity polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) with a high-performance liquid chromatography-
fluorescence detector. A face-to-face survey was conducted to assess the consumption profiles of
300 men and 300 women. The health risk was assessed based on the margin of exposure (MOE) prin-
ciple. BaP (14.95–1.75 µg/kg) and 4PAHs (BaP + Chr + BaA + BbF) (78.46–15.14 µg/kg) were eight
and five times more abundant at the median level in flamed chickens than in braised ones, respec-
tively. The contents of BaP and 4PAHs in all flamed chicken samples were above the limits set
by the European Commission against 23% for both in braised chickens. Women had the highest
maximum daily consumption of both braised (39.65 g/day) and flamed chickens (105.06 g/day).
At the estimated maximum level of consumption, women were respectively 3.64 (flamed chicken)
and 1.62 (braised chicken) times more exposed to BaP and 4PAHs than men. MOE values ranged
between 8140 and 9591 for men and between 2232 and 2629 for women at the maximum level of
consumption of flamed chickens, indicating a slight potential carcinogenic risk.

braised chicken; flamed chicken; polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons; risk assessment; Burkina Faso