The Column-02-21-2017

The disposal of food waste can pose serious environmental problems. Food scraps from the kitchen often end up in landfill, where it rots and produces methane, a greenhouse gas.

Non-targeted screening approaches are an essential element of food safety strategies, detecting novel or unexpected food contaminants and adulterants. However, the development and implementation of generalized and non-targeted screening workflows for food matrices is challenging. The inherent sample complexity and diversity as well as large analyte concentration ranges represent significant obstacles.

The Column spoke to Rudolf Krska from the University of Natural Resources and Life Sciences in Vienna, Austria, about the latest analytical techniques and challenges facing analysts involved in the evolving field of mycotoxin analysis.

Few fruits are as notorious as the Durian fruit. Native to Southeast Asia but fast becoming available around the globe, these fruits hold the unsavoury title of “the world’s smelliest fruit”. The compounds responsible for such a complex and at times difficult to stomach aroma have intrigued scientists for decades, but until recently the data relating to those chemicals was inconsistent.

A brief profile of the Laboratory of Foodomics in Spain, led by Alejandro Cifuentes.

The implementation of the FSMA (Food Safety Modernization Act) and the continued globalization of the food supply have increased the need for improved analytical methods for quality and safety testing. Food safety and quality requirements are increasingly stringent, as are consumer expectations. In addition to new methods, the industry continues to look for improvements in laboratory productivity and new ways to reduce costs. These trends extend to dietary supplements and natural products. This article discusses the current state of efforts to modernize US Pharmacopeia (USP) compendial methods to take advantage of new chromatography technology, including the use of “allowable adjustments”.

A preview of RAFA 2017, which will be held 7–10 November 2017 in Prague, Czech Republic.

Luigi Mondello spoke to The Column about his group’s research into characterizing pigments in bell peppers using offline multidimensional supercritical fluid chromatography (SFC) combined with reversed-phase liquid chromatography (LC).

The analysis of hazardous mycotoxins is crucially important in food to ensure the health of humans and animals. Here, a simple and fast analysis including the sample preparation and purification of mycotoxins within food is presented. Ten different mycotoxins were investigated simultaneously in 14 min. The method was applied to the analysis of mycotoxins in apple juice, grape juice, and two different batches of the same branded beer.

Click the title above to open The Column February 21, 2017 Europe & Asia issue, Volume 13, Number 3, in an interactive PDF format.

Click the title above to open The Column February 21, 2017 North American issue, Volume 13, Number 3, in an interactive PDF format.