Food Additives and Contaminants Part A-chemistry Analysis Control Exposure & Risk Assessment最新文献

Assessing the contamination of paper and board (P&B) food packaging materials poses significant challenges due to the sensitivity limits of analytical methods and the low precision of sampling processes. This study aims to enhance the understanding of P&B food packaging contamination by investigating the distribution of contaminants at different scales using a combination of chromatographic and spectroscopic techniques. A total of 36 substances were targeted, including phthalates, photoinitiators, and bisphenol A. Key findings reveal that intra-packaging variability can lead to concentration variations by a factor of 2-7. Recycled materials generally exhibit higher contamination levels, with concentrations of certain contaminants reaching up to 700 mg/kg. Microscopy, including confocal laser scanning microscopy (CLSM) and Raman micro-spectroscopy, enabled the identification and differentiation of contaminants, highlighting specific marker molecules and characteristic Raman bands. The study underscores the necessity of comprehensive sampling strategies, advocating for the grinding of entire packaging to obtain representative samples. The introduction of contamination "fingerprints," based on occurrences and correlations between concentrations, offers a promising approach for hazard identification and risk assessment. Overall, the findings contribute to the development of safer and more sustainable food packaging solutions, emphasizing the need for improved analytical techniques and standardized sampling methods in the context of increasing use of recycled materials.

Dental Fluorosis (DF) is one of the negative outcomes of excessive fluoride (F) intake through food sources. This systematic review aimed to compare F content in two important food sources for infants, Mother's Milk (MoM) and Infant Formula (IF), and then evaluate the risk of DF related to F in those two types of food. For this purpose, 181 studies were initially found by searching the relevant keywords in widely recognized databases, including Google Scholar, Scopus, Science Direct, and PubMed. Then, 29 final studies were selected considering the inclusion and exclusion criteria. The results showed that the F level of MoM in five out of nine (55.5%) studies and its overall average worldwide does not comply with the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) guideline (100 µg/L). Therefore, MoM's value of F must be continuously monitored, and risk mitigation solutions must be used to reduce F. Accordingly, tracking F in drinking water, tea, and food consumed by lactating mothers (LMs) was the essential measure that could lead to the reduction of F of MoM. The level of F of IF was much lower than its value in MoM. The estimated hazard quotient (HQ) of DF for both types of food was lower than the acceptable level (HQ = 1), but, due to other sources of F intake, it is necessary to use control solutions to reduce the level of F in MoM and IF consumed by infants.

Geographical origin authentication of onions has become significant owing to origin labelling fraud in South Korea. Various analytical techniques based on stable isotope ratios, organic and inorganic constituents, or their combinations, can distinguish agricultural products geographically. However, studies on the geographical classification of South Korean and Chinese onions using stable isotopes and minerals remain scarce. This study aimed to discriminate geographically between South Korean and Chinese onions using stable isotope ratios (δ¹³C, δ¹⁵N, and δ³⁴S) and mineral contents (K, Ca, Mg, Na, P, Fe, Zn, Mn, Cu, and Sr) combined with multivariate statistical analysis. Fifty-eight onion samples cultivated in South Korea and China were collected in 2023. The two stable isotope ratios (δ¹⁵N and δ³⁴S) and six minerals (K, Ca, Na, Fe, Zn, and Sr) significantly differed between these onions. These variables were applied in orthogonal partial least squares discriminant analysis to classify the onion samples regionally. The predictive ability and goodness-of-fit parameters (R²X and R²Y) were 0.671, 0.383, and 0.677, respectively. K, Sr, δ³⁴S, and Na served as potential markers contributing to the classification. Therefore, stable isotopes and mineral elements may serve as effective indicators for the geographical discrimination of South Korean and Chinese onion samples using multivariate analyses.

Cocoa is a high value product and therefore a potential target for economic adulteration with less expensive ingredients. Carob flour is less expensive than cocoa powder and is frequently cited as a potential cocoa substitute. While carob has legitimate uses as a cocoa replacement, these characteristics also make it a potential adulterant of cocoa powder. Direct analysis in real time mass spectrometry (DART-MS) is an ambient ionization MS technique that can be used to rapidly interrogate samples. Samples of cocoa powders, carob flours, and mixtures of the two were extracted with buffer and interrogated by DART-MS. The mass spectra were used to develop models to distinguish between cocoa powder and cocoa powder adulterated with carob. A principal component-linear discriminant analysis (PCA-LDA) model was used to discriminate between cocoa powder and cocoa powder amended with 15% carob flour. The accuracy using internal validation was 100%. Using an external validation dataset, the accuracy, precision, and recall were 96.0%, 94.8%, and 97.3%, respectively. These results demonstrate that DART-MS can be used to discriminate between cocoa powder and cocoa powder adulterated with 15% carob.

A tiered intake assessment approach is presented and applied to derive estimates of maximum potential global propylene glycol (PG) intake from beverage sources. The US and UK markets served as surrogates for the world and the EU region, respectively, to determine the maximum potential exposure for PG in various subpopulations, including brand-loyal consumers. Conservative intake estimates for PG used in non-alcoholic beverages were calculated for toddlers less than 3 years (y), young children 3-9 y, adolescents 10-17 y, adults 18-64 y, elderly 65-74 y, very elderly 75+ y, based on assumed uses in high beverage consumption markets, leveraging either the 2-day food consumption data from the 2013-2016 US National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey or the 4-day food consumption data from the 2008-2017 UK National Diet and Nutrition Survey Rolling Programme. This study shows that safety of PG in beverages at proposed use levels up to 3,000 mg kg^-1 can be supported for any geography, based not only on a refined budget method approach but also on a refined deterministic approach when applying the proposed safe intake (pADI) of 62.5 mg kg bw^-1day^-1. In all refined assessments, intake estimates across all age groups fell close to or well below the pADI even among high consumers at the 95^th percentile.

The formation and occurrence of acrylamide in carbohydrate-rich foods has been extensively studied over the course of the past few decades. However, the emergence of plant-based meat alternatives presents a new challenge in this field. The aim of this study was to evaluate the levels of acrylamide in commercially available plant-based meat alternatives before and after heat treatment. Trace levels of acrylamide were detected in all samples before heat-treatment, while the concentrations increased in 11 samples out of 16 after heat-treatment. The highest concentration of acrylamide increased from 65.7 ± 6.6 µg kg^-1 before to 119 ± 12 µg kg^-1 after heat-treatment. Principal component analysis (PCA) indicated that besides macronutrient composition, the use of additives and processing techniques have a strong influence on acrylamide formation in plant-based meat alternatives. The latter was supported by the analysis of self-made meat alternative models that were prepared using only the base ingredients.

Two novel phosphodiesterase 5 (PDE-5) inhibitors were detected in pressed candy using high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC)-diode array detection. Following extraction with acetonitrile and sonication, the compounds were isolated and purified via semi-preparative liquid chromatography. Structural characterisation was achieved through high-resolution mass spectrometry (HRMS) and nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectroscopy. The results indicate that both compounds possess identical UV absorption spectra. The molecular formulas of compounds 1 and 2 are C₂₃H₃₂N₄O₄ and C₂₂H₃₀N₄O₄, respectively, each featuring a pyrimidinone benzene structure with a single methylene group (-CH₂) variation. As studies on these illicit compounds in functional foods have not been conducted, regulatory agencies must take note and incorporate them for the assessment of illicit additives in functional and healthcare foods.

Pyrethroids are synthetic chemicals that account for 16% of the international insecticide market and have been shown to be of varying toxicity to different species. There are various methods available for detecting pyrethroids in agricultural products, but these products must be pre-treated to remove interference from the food matrix, such as through dispersion liquid-liquid microextraction (DLLME). This study employed two experimental design methods to optimize the continuous and discontinuous experimental parameters of DLLME and investigated whether DLLME combined with GC-NICI-MS is effective for detecting pyrethroids in agricultural products. The Taguchi design with an L9(34) orthogonal array and response surface methodology were employed to optimize the discontinuous and continuous parameters of the DLLME process, respectively. To validate the performance of GC-NICI-MS after optimized DLLME, pyrethroids in mixed standard solutions at levels ranging from 0.02 to 50.00 µg/L were measured, and the resultant calibration curves were fitted. Adequate linearity was found for the six investigated pyrethroids (r = 0.9908-0.9960). The limits of detection and quantification ranged from 0.005 to 0.035 µg/L and 0.02 to 0.1 µg/L, respectively. The proposed approach simplifies the optimization of parameters compared to reported methods and achieves considerably lower limits of detection. The concept of mixed application based on the dual experimental design method can be applied to other regulated compounds to enhance the safety of agricultural products. The feasibility of the method was confirmed by successfully detecting pyrethroids in 13 types of teas, fruit, and vegetables.

Beehives can accumulate environmental contaminants as bees gather pollen, propolis, and water from their surroundings, contaminating hive products like honey. Moreover, in multifloral environments, bees can interact with plants treated with different pesticides, often causing higher pesticides concentrations in multi-floral honey than in mono-floral varieties. Glyphosate and glufosinate are both widely used herbicides. Glyphosate accounted for one-third of herbicide sales in Europe in 2017 and continues to raise health concerns, including its potential carcinogenicity. While the European Commission extended glyphosate's authorisation for another 10 years in 2023, concerns remain about its impact on biodiversity and human health. This study aimed to monitor the presence of glyphosate, glufosinate, and their metabolites in 100 samples of multifloral honey representing Italian production by analysis using IC-HRMS. Results indicated that 12% of honey samples contained glyphosate residues ranging from > LOQ to 45 ng g^-1, with the highest concentrations detected in the Puglia region. No sample exceeded the maximum residue levels set by EU regulations. Glufosinate and its metabolites were not detected in any samples. These findings underscore the need for continued monitoring of pesticide residues in honey, particularly given the potential 'cocktail effect' of multiple contaminants and their combined toxicity. This study highlights the importance of safeguarding consumer health, especially in vulnerable populations, by addressing gaps in data on pesticide residue levels.

Deoxynivalenol (DON) contaminates various complex matrices, necessitating straightforward, effective cleanup and precise detection methods. This study employed immunomagnetic beads for sample purification and utilized a competitive time-resolved fluoro-immuno-chromatographic assay to achieve quantitative detection of DON in corn and its by-products. The limits of detection and quantification were 104 μg/kg and 243 μg/kg, respectively. Significant cross-reactivity was absent with most common toxins, except for 3-acetyl-deoxynivalenol, which exhibited a cross-reaction rate of 3167%. The recovery rates ranged from 86% to 117%, with coefficients of variation between 6.9% and 9.5%. The correlation coefficient with HPLC was 0.977. This method is rapid, accurate, and requires no large-scale equipment, facilitating on-site detection directly.