Application Notes: Food and Beverage

Teledyne Tekmar

Agilent Technologies Inc.

Pickering Laboratories, Inc.

Contamination of food products with pesticides is a growing concern because of recognized damaging health effects. This concern is particularly acute for baby foods because of the vulnerability of young children to harmful effects of synthetic chemicals, particularly pesticides. This application note presents results for analysis of trace levels of 24 organophosphorus (OP) pesticides in baby foods using the Shimadzu GCMS-TQ8030 triple quadrupole GC–MS-MS.

EMD Millipore

Pickering Laboratories, Inc.

Beverages, such as sodas and energy drinks, can include a number of polar ingredients, which are easily soluble in the water matrix of the drinks. These ingredients include sweeteners (sugars and sugar substitutes), caffeine, vitamin supplements, amino acids, organic acids, and plant extracts. Because the analytes are already in solution, there is no need for extensive sample preparation. Dilution followed by direct injection into an HPLC is typically suitable.

Sample preparation for multiresidue pesticide screening for agriculture commodities can be cumbersome and laborious for multiple sample extractions. With recent advances in multiresidue pesticide screening, methods have been simplified by the introduction of QuEChERS.

Caramel colorings are used as additives in a broad range of food and beverage products, but have no nutritional or preservative function. Recently, the potential hazard to humans of ammonia- and ammonia-sulfite-process caramel colorings was raised, because they contain the by-product 4-methylimidazole, which is a potential carcinogen (1).

OI Analytical

Waters Corporation

UCT Application Note

One fast, simple QuEChERS extraction for a broad range of pesticides.

Avermectins are 16-membered ring macrolide drugs that are used as veterinary antihelmintics. The lowest allowable limit for these compounds in food products is set based on worldwide safety evaluations. Regulatory MRLs for avermectins can vary worldwide but are generally in the ppb concentration range. The sensitive analysis of avermectins in food products such as milk and meat can be challenging due to their complex sample matrices.

The health benefits of fish oil in one's diet has been widely established. Common edible fish sources include salmon, trout, tuna, swordfish, and others. The omega-3 fatty acids, EPA and DHA, in dietary supplements (capsules) are primarily derived from smaller oily fish, notably anchovy, horse mackerel, bunker, capelin, and sand eel.

Acrylamide is a neurotoxic compound classified as a probable human carcinogen and genotoxicant (1). In 2002, researchers in Sweden uncovered the presence of acrylamide in certain fried and baked foods at relatively high levels (2).

Levels of benzene, toluene, ethylbenzene, xylenes, and styrene (BTEXS) are a concern in olive oil. These compounds find their way into olive trees and hence into olives and olive oil mainly as a result of emissions from vehicles, bonfires, and paints into ambient air near orchards. This analysis uses a PerkinElmer? TurboMatrix? 110 Headspace (HS) sampler with a Clarus? SQ 8 gas chromatograph–mass spectrometer (GC–MS) to achieve detection limits below 5 ng/g and concentrations up to 100 ng/g.

Heterocyclic amines (HCAs) are a class of compounds that are formed when amino acids from meat proteins react with glucose and creatine under high-temperatures, as is associated with frying or grilling over an open flame (1–3). Studies have correlated the consumption of high levels of HCAs with an increased risk of some forms of cancer.

The need to increase the use of low valued co-products derived from the processing of sugar beets has prompted the investigation of the structure of the pectin extracted from sugar beet pulp. The characterization of sugar beet pectin is essential as it has the potential to be used in the production of industrial products, e.g., as an emulsifying agent in food systems.

Antioxidants protect cells from the damaging effects of free radicals and offer numerous benefits for human health. Many phenolic compounds found in plants, as well as some vitamins, exhibit antioxidant activity. Several colorimetric assays exist to measure the total antioxidant capacity, typically expressed as Trolox or Gallic acid equivalents.

Plastics and other polymers are used in a wide spectrum of applications from industrial usage to packaging, including the packaging of food and pharmaceutical products.

Red wine is a challenging matrix that contains organic acids, sugars, phenols, and pigments such as anthocyanins. This application note describes a simple, fast, novel, and effective method to clean up red wine co-extractives.

Triple quadrupole LC/MS analysis of aflatoxins in food samples eliminates the need for expensive immuno-affinity cleanup columns and reduces the probability of false positives to almost zero.

The resolution, sensitivity, and mass accuracy of the Agilent 7200 GC/Q-TOF system provide rapid, simple, and reliable analysis of trace levels of sulfur compounds in coffee.

Polychlorinated dibenzo-p-dioxins (PCDD) and polychlorinated dibenzofurans (PCDF) are fat-soluble, highly toxic, ubiquitous environmental contaminants found at trace levels in all foodstuffs and animal feed.

Wine is a beverage produced and consumed throughout the world and is a highly valued commodity. Its classification and authenticity can be very important.

Whether the goal is food safety, ensuring quality or establishing provenance, measuring the trace element content of foods and beverages that we all consume is of paramount importance.

More than 1000 pesticides are currently used worldwide in the treatment of soil and crops. Many countries have established allowable levels of those pesticides in food to protect consumers. While these maximum residue levels (MRLs) vary, the default tolerance is 10 parts per billion (ppb).