Food and Beverage Analysis

A novel "green chromatography" method for analysing melamine in milk is described. The method uses 100% water as the eluent and in the sample preparation stage and is reported to be a reliable and cost-effective method for laboratories in developing countries.

HPLC with diode-array and electrochemical-array detection overcomes sensitivity and specificity limitations in natural products analysis.

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.

HPLC with diode-array and electrochemical-array detection overcomes sensitivity and specificity limitations in natural products analysis.

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.

The monomer bisphenol A (BPA) is used to make polycarbonate plastic and epoxy resins and has been present in many plastic bottles and metal food and drinks cans since the 1960s.

Shirley O. Corriher, who is well known for her books explaining the science of cooking and baking, will be sharing some of her secrets in tomorrow?s plenary lecture.

Janet Kelsey of The Column spoke to Joe Anacleto, Vice President of Applied Markets, AB Sciex, and Sky Countryman, Manager, Applied Markets Research Team, Phenomenex, about the impact their companies? joint collaboration project will have on the food safety testing market.

Janet Kelsey of The Column spoke to Joe Anacleto, Vice President of Applied Markets, AB Sciex, and Sky Countryman, Manager, Applied Markets Research Team, Phenomenex, about the impact their companies? joint collaboration project will have on the food safety testing market.

Veterinary drugs have become an integral part of livestock production and play an important role in animal welfare maintenance, mainly for preventing disease, curing infection, controlling the risk of disease transmission to humans and for increasing the productive capacity of animals.

It is well established that food-producing animals are exposed to toxic micropollutants via environment and feeds, and that micropollutants entering the animals are transferred to edible tissues, thus representing a chemical human health hazard.

An overview of important GC–MS techniques currently used in food analysis is described. Considerable attention is devoted to the use of the mass spectrometer, in relation to its poptential for separation and identification. The importance of comprehensive GC?GC is also discussed.

Introduction

Sample preparation is a crucial part of the analysis of foodstuffs. Current sample preparation techniques used in food analysis are reviewed and the advantages and drawbacks of each one are discussed.

In this review, the most recent LC–MS approaches are discussed, as well as the technical requirements for linking an LC system to a mass spectrometer. The advantages of on-line 2DLC in the "comprehensive" mode are also illustrated and selected applications for the analysis of common foodstuffs, such as triacylglycerols, carotenoids and polyphenols, are described. Finally, future trends for LC–MS in food analysis are reported.

On-line heart-cut LC–GC and, more recently, comprehensive LC–GC (LC?GC) are very powerful analytical techniques because of the combination of the selectivity features of LC with the high efficiency of GC. This article presents an overview of the most recently used interfacing systems, as well as applications in the food analysis.

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.

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).

The task of efficiently monitoring chemical and biological contaminants in imported and exported food can be overwhelming. Traditionally, analysis of metals in foods has required multiple techniques in order to cover the range of elements, concentrations, and food types.

This afternoon session on Analysing Bioactive Compounds in Complex Food Matrices is chaired by Professor Rychlic from the Center Of Food and Life Sciences.

Click here to view the complete E-Separation Solutions newsletter from April 12, 2012.

Click here to view the complete E-Separation Solutions newsletter from April 12, 2012.

Traditional approaches for measuring food components are based on a ?target list? approach, whereby specific methodologies are developed for individual or related compounds. Such methods are well-suited for routine monitoring but can fail to detect emerging contamination events or to identify new prospects for product development.

Direct injection for gas chromatographic profiling of alcoholic beverages is usually preferable, but where spirits and liquors contain appreciable amounts of non-volatile material, some mode of pre-treatment may be required to avoid both inlet and column contamination. This consideration applies in particular to products aged for extended periods in wooden barrels and especially products containing added sugar, as volatile artefacts from sugar decomposition in the hot injection port can also complicate the chromatogram.

Hyphenated approaches to analysis have received much attention over the last three decades to the extent that techniques such as GC?MS, GC?FTIR and LC?MS have ? in the relevant fields ? become indispensable parts of the analyst?s arsenal. This concept has been extended to include multi-hyphenated techniques, where the chromatography is preceded by analyte extraction from a sample matrix. In the field of GC?MS, examples include thermal, sorptive or headspace extraction, with subsequent preconcentration, for instance, by thermal desorption (TD).

The two year international project "Preparation of active packaging with antioxidant and antimicrobial activity based on astaxanthin and chitosan",1 which started in 2009, was funded by FONCYCIT (Fund for International Cooperation of Science and Technology between the European Union and Mexico).

This Tuesday morning session will be presided over by Mary Ellen McNally of DuPont Crop Protection (Wilmington, Delaware).