RAFA 2024 Highlights: Cutting-Edge Chromatography Techniques for Food Safety and Food Analysis

During the first talk on cutting-edge techniques used in food and food safety analysis, Arjen Gerssen from Wageningen Food Safety Research, The Netherlands, presented on “Emerging Contaminants Exposed: Combining Effect-Based Testing and Analytical Chemistry for Food and Feed Safety.”.Gerssen’s presentation focused on the integration of effect-based bioassays and mass spectrometry to improve the detection of emerging contaminants in food. Effect-based assays, such as DR CALUX bioassay for dioxin detection, initially screen samples for toxic responses. In cases where discrepancies appear between bioassay results and confirmatory gas chromatography–high-resolution mass spectrometry (GC–HRMS) tests—as occurred with elevated dioxin-like activity in egg and broiler fat samples—the analytical approach helps pinpoint new contaminants such as 2,3,7,8-tetrabromo-dibenzofuran (2,3,7,8-TBDF). After tracing contamination in poultry feed additives, the research underscored the power of combining screening assays with high-sensitivity mass spectrometry for uncovering emerging food safety risks.

Lidija Kenjeric from the University of Natural Resource and Life Sciences, Austria, gave a talk entitled: “Exploring Mass Spectrometer Limits: UHPLC–MS/MS Method for Determination of 1000 Toxins in 10 Minutes.”.Kenjeric presented a validated method that quantifies over 1000 fungal metabolites and plant toxins in a 40-min window, using both positive and negative ionization modes with two injections of 20 min each. By applying fast polarity switching (FPSW) with scheduled multiple reaction monitoring (sMRM), her team tested nine different configurations of high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) and ultrahigh pressure liquid chromatography (UHPLC) columns to assess how an accelerated method might impact performance without losing accuracy or precision. Using samples of oats and muesli, the validation, based on SANTE guidelines, examined repeatability, precision, matrix effects, and recovery rates across different concentration levels. Results indicated FPSW maintains matrix effect stability and preserves precision; however, a fast UHPLC-gradient compromised data quality at lower concentration levels, highlighting challenges in achieving speed without sacrificing sensitivity.

Roberto Lagana Vinci from the University of Messina, Italy, then presented a talk on the“Investigation of Different Separation Strategies in Comprehensive Two-Dimensional Liquid Chromatography for Characterization of Secondary Metabolites in Complex Food Matrices.”. This research aimed at enhancing the analysis of bioactive secondary metabolites and the team discussed using comprehensive two-dimensional liquid chromatography coupled with photodiode-array (PDA) and MS/MS detectors to handle complex food matrices. They compared different platform configurations (hydrophilic interaction liquid chromatography x reversed-phase chromatography [HILIC × RP], RP × HILIC, RP × RP) to evaluate separation power and compound identification accuracy in samples derived from herbs, spices, and other plant-based foods. Their findings indicated that advanced two-dimensional liquid chromatography (2D-LC) setups offer superior compound resolution and quantification over conventional single-dimension methods, reducing interference and improving analytical robustness.

Haiyan Li from the National Centre for Food Science, Singapore Food Agency, Singapore, concluded with a talk entitled “Analytical Developments and Challenges for Micro/Nanoplastics Analysis in Food.”. Addressing the growing concern over micro- and nanoplastics in food, Li highlighted a novel method for identifying, sizing, and quantifying microplastics (MPs) and nanoplastics (NPs) in foods such as seafood and table salts. Although no standard legislation currently exists for MPs/NPs, the study provides critical occurrence data for assessing potential health risks. The researchers have also developed an analytical platform for NPs that could be extended to more complex food matrices. By advancing detection and quantification capabilities, this method holds promise for regulatory frameworks aiming to mitigate exposure risks from microplastics. The study involved a multi-technique-based analytical method for detection of MPs through a combination of microscope-Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (μ-FTIR) with pyrolysis-GC–MS (Py-GC–MS) to achieve three-dimensional (3D) information for the identification of polymer type, characterization of particle size and morphology, and quantification of MPs based on both particle number and mass of plastic