The Column-02-05-2020

LCGC is proud to announce that Ryan T. Kelly is the winner of the 2020 HTC Innovation Award.

Sulphite is a preservative added to a vast range of foods and beverages to prevent browning or oxidation. Some individuals are sensitive to sulphite additives and may experience a range of allergic reactions. Therefore, both the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and European Union (EU) laws require that the presence of sulphites be declared on food labels when the concentration exceeds 10 mg/L. Several analytical methods exist to measure sulphite in food and beverages, however, they suffer from repeatability issues, and can be quite cumbersome to perform. A patent has been filed for an innovative, fast, and accurate ion chromatographic (IC) method based on direct current (DC) mode electrochemical detection. This article explains more.

ChromSoc have announced the return of their popular “Grass Roots” event series, and a return to the subject of “Liquid Chromatography Fundamentals” following many requests for another iteration of the original 2016 course.

Knauer employees have used their annual “Social Day” to work with the Berlin City Mission and support the city’s homeless.

Waters Corporation has announced a series of biopharmaceutical events for 2020, beginning with the Biopharma Roadshow Series.

Chicago, Illinois, USA, will host the 71st annual Pittcon conference and exposition. Thosands of separation scientists from across the globe and from a wide spectrum of industries will gather at the McCormick Place convention centre to discuss, investigate, and assess the latest scientific advances in technology and instrumentation.

Organosulphur compounds are important substances in the food industry because they can contribute to the flavour impression of a product. The human olfactory system’s sensitivity to sulphur leads to low flavour threshold values, making the analysis of these substances a challenging task. Gas chromatography (GC) with sulphur chemiluminescence detection (SCD) is a highly sensitive and selective technique for the analysis of sulphur compounds in various matrices. Using a range of different beers as an example, an approach is presented to reliably qualify and quantify sulphur components in beverages using headspace sampling and GC–SCD.

This article describes the importance of magnetic bead and chromatographic media selection for hybrid LBA/LC–MS/MS workflows.