Assay of the set of all Sudan azodye (I, II, III, IV, and Para-Red) contaminating agents by liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry and isotope dilution methodology

J Agric Food Chem. 2008 Jan 9;56(1):63-7. doi: 10.1021/jf072286y. Epub 2007 Dec 1.

Abstract

A high-throughput mass spectrometric method is presented for the simultaneous detection of Sudan I, II, III, IV, and Para-Red azodyes in foodstuff. The method is based on the use of deuterium-labeled internal standards and atmospheric pressure chemical ionization (APCI) in a triple-quadrupole instrument. The gas-phase breakdown pattern of each labeled and unlabeled analogue displays the naphthoic moiety as a common fragment. The search for the parents of this common species (parent ion scans) allows, by flow injection and in a single run, the evaluation of the presence of each polluting species spiked in typical foodstuffs. A detailed assay of each azodye was performed by LC-APCI and isotope dilution method, through the multiple reaction monitoring approach, using deuterium-labeled internal standards. Sudan dyes can be quantified above the threshold of 10 ppb except for Sudan Para-Red, for which the limit of quantification was 20 ppb, likely due to the different ionization efficiency.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Azo Compounds / analysis
  • Chromatography, High Pressure Liquid / methods*
  • Coloring Agents / analysis*
  • Food Contamination / analysis*
  • Naphthols / analysis
  • Tandem Mass Spectrometry / methods*

Substances

  • Azo Compounds
  • Coloring Agents
  • Naphthols
  • 1-phenylazo-2-naphthol
  • sudan red
  • Scarlet Red
  • sudan III