Food For Thought: SPME in Food Analysis

Michelle Colgrave of Edith Cowan University and Australia’s national science agency is the recipient of the 2024 Harvey W. Wiley Award.

Food contact materials contain low molecular weight additives and processing aids which can migrate into foods leading to trace levels of contamination. Food safety is ensured through regulations, comprising compositional controls and migration limits, which present a significant analytical challenge to the food industry to ensure compliance and demonstrate due diligence. Of the various analytical approaches, LC-MS/MS has proved to be an essential tool in monitoring migration of target compounds into foods, and more sophisticated approaches such as LC-high resolution MS (Orbitrap) are being increasingly used for untargeted analysis to monitor non-intentionally added substances. This podcast will provide an overview to this area, illustrated with various applications showing current approaches being employed.

A group of Malaysian and American scientists recently analyzed the benefits of using green metrics for detecting emerging contaminants (ECs) using analytical methods.

In a recent study, scientists from Europe reflected over how more testing protocols must be created to monitor and control micro- and nanoplastics (MNPs) in soil.

Non-alcoholic beers are becoming more popular and need to reflect the sophisticated flavourings of beers that are brewed containing alcohol. Sophisticated analytical techniques can help to achieve this.

A new study details the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA)’s recent expansion to 30 analytes, from a previous 16, in the method for determining per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) in the US food supply, which, in turn, may mean that additional analytes may still yet be identified (1).