A fast SALLE GC-MS/MS multi-analyte method for the determination of 75 food packaging substances in food simulants

Emmanouil D Tsochatzis; Joao Alberto Lopes; Helen Gika; Trine Kastrup Dalsgaard; Georgios Theodoridis

doi:10.1016/j.foodchem.2021.129998

A fast SALLE GC-MS/MS multi-analyte method for the determination of 75 food packaging substances in food simulants

Food Chem. 2021 Nov 1:361:129998. doi: 10.1016/j.foodchem.2021.129998. Epub 2021 May 1.

Authors

Emmanouil D Tsochatzis¹, Joao Alberto Lopes², Helen Gika³, Trine Kastrup Dalsgaard⁴, Georgios Theodoridis⁵

Affiliations

¹ Department of Food Science, Centre of Innovative Food Research (iFood), Aarhus University, Agro Food Park 48, 8200 Aarhus N, Denmark. Electronic address: emmanouil.tsochatzis@food.au.dk.
² European Commission, Joint Research Centre (JRC), Geel, Belgium.
³ FoodOmicsGR Research Infrastructure, AUTh Node, Center for Interdisciplinary Research and Innovation (CIRI-AUTH), Balkan Center B1.4 10th Km Thessaloniki-Thermi Rd P.O. Box 8318 GR, 57001 Thessaloniki, Greece; Biomic AUTh, Center for Interdisciplinary Research and Innovation (CIRI-AUTH), Balkan Center B1.4, 10th Km Thessaloniki-Thermi Rd, P.O. Box 8318 GR, 57001 Thessaloniki, Greece; Department of Medicine, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, 54124 Thessaloniki, Greece.
⁴ Department of Food Science, Centre of Innovative Food Research (iFood), Aarhus University, Agro Food Park 48, 8200 Aarhus N, Denmark.
⁵ FoodOmicsGR Research Infrastructure, AUTh Node, Center for Interdisciplinary Research and Innovation (CIRI-AUTH), Balkan Center B1.4 10th Km Thessaloniki-Thermi Rd P.O. Box 8318 GR, 57001 Thessaloniki, Greece; Biomic AUTh, Center for Interdisciplinary Research and Innovation (CIRI-AUTH), Balkan Center B1.4, 10th Km Thessaloniki-Thermi Rd, P.O. Box 8318 GR, 57001 Thessaloniki, Greece; Department of Chemistry, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, 54124 Thessaloniki, Greece.

PMID: 34082389
DOI: 10.1016/j.foodchem.2021.129998

Abstract

A simple and fast method was developed for the simultaneous determination of 75 plastic food contact material (FCM) in liquid food simulants, at levels of a few ng g^-1. The method employs an optimised salt-assisted liquid-liquid extraction for all EU-regulated ethanol/H₂O food simulants, in the presence of 10% NaCl (simulants A and C) or 5% NaCl (simulant D1), and dichloromethane as the extracting solvent. Gas chromatography with triple-quad MS operating in multiple reaction monitoring acquisition was used, applying isotope dilution with selected deuterated compounds. Adequate sensitivity was demonstrated for all analytes. The results also showed sufficient accuracy for the majority of substances, with recoveries of 70-120% and repeatability (expressed as relative standard deviations, RSDs) smaller than 15%. The method was applied to the analysis of FCM multilayer items after undergoing migration testing according to the specifications of the current EU legislation in force.

Keywords: GC–MS/MS; Internal standard correction (deuterated standards); Migration in food simulants; Multi-analyte method; Salt-assisted liquid–liquid extraction.

MeSH terms

Food Contamination / analysis*
Food Packaging*
Gas Chromatography-Mass Spectrometry / methods*
Limit of Detection
Liquid-Liquid Extraction / methods
Plastics / analysis
Reproducibility of Results
Solvents / chemistry
Tandem Mass Spectrometry / methods*

Substances

Plastics
Solvents