The fatty acid esters of monochloropropane diol (MCPD) are a group of food source contaminants formed during thermal processing. These components were recognized as potential food source toxicants in the past few decades, and growing evidence has proven their toxic effects, especially to kidneys and testes. Therefore, increasing research articles reported their results about MCPD esters in recent years. In this perspective, a total of 35 research articles/reviews about MCPD esters, including the studies concerning the analytical methods, occurrences, toxicity, formation mechanism, and mitigation strategies of MCPD esters in 2018-2019 have been summarized and discussed. Updating the latest research results about MCPD esters could improve our understandings about these components, especially on the toxic effects and the mitigation approaches in both academia and industry.
Keywords: analytical methods; formation mechanism; mitigation strategies; monochloropropane diol (MCPD) esters; occurrences; toxicity.