The quality-management system in research implemented in the food and food process quality research laboratory of the French Food Safety Agency

The French Food Safety Agency is a public body incorporating 12 laboratories that perform research to support expertise and public decisions taken in the fields of sanitary safety of food, animal health, and veterinary drugs. On the request of the General Management of the Agency a quality-management system in research (QMSR) is being implemented in the Food and Food Process Quality Research Laboratory. The experimental QMSR is based on existing standards and documents, describing the provisions required for scientific and technical competence, quality management, and project management. Furthermore, this QMSR also incorporates specific notions of great importance for research activities such as the positive and negative non-conformities, the non-confirmation of hypotheses, and the principle of evaluation of a research activity by peers for both quality and scientific aspects.     

The quality-management system in research implemented in the food and food process quality research laboratory of the French Food Safety Agency

The French Food Safety Agency is a public body incorporating 12 laboratories that perform research to support expertise and public decisions taken in the fields of sanitary safety of food, animal health, and veterinary drugs. On the request of the General Management of the Agency a quality-management system in research (QMSR) is being implemented in the Food and Food Process Quality Research Laboratory. The experimental QMSR is based on existing standards and documents, describing the provisions required for scientific and technical competence, quality management, and project management. Furthermore, this QMSR also incorporates specific notions of great importance for research activities such as the positive and negative non-conformities, the non-confirmation of hypotheses, and the principle of evaluation of a research activity by peers for both quality and scientific aspects.

     

Advanced development in analysis of phytochemicals from medicine and food dual purposes plants used in China

The concept of "Let food be thy medicine and medicine be thy food" was widely accepted for thousand years. It is now well known that some foods and food components have beneficial physiological and psychological effects. In China, the Ministry of Health of the People's Republic of China announced 87 items of materials, including 81 plants, could be used as both medicine and food. Increasing consumer demand for safety and health benefits, it is of critical importance to have high-quality and comprehensive data on bioactive compounds (phytochemicals) in these materials. In this review, we summarized the advanced development (2006-2010) in analysis of phytochemicals from medicine and food dual purposes plants (MFDPP) used in China.     

A review of silver nanoparticles in food packaging technologies: Regulation,methods, properties,migration, and future challenges

The development of antimicrobial food packaging is needed for food preservation and quality maintenance. Silver nanoparticles (AgNPs) have been widely used as an antimicrobial agent in food packaging technologies. However, the risks associated with their potential migration into foods are a major concern. This paper comprehensively reviews the use of AgNPs in food packaging technologies. The application of AgNPs in food packaging technologies has been regulated by the United States Food and Drug Administration and the European Food Safety Authority. The addition of AgNPs into food packaging can improve their barrier, mechanical, and antibacterial properties, as well as maintain the quality of foods. Migration of AgNPs from food packaging into foods is still a concern as it has implications for human health associated with their toxicity properties. A study on the toxicological properties of AgNPs released from food packaging needs to be carried out intensively to ensure their safety before being widely implemented. Moreover, comprehensive economic evaluation to implement AgNPs in food packaging is needed as such a study is missing in the literature.     

Need for food reference materials in Asia

Summary A survey was conducted to determine perception, knowledge, use or application of Food Reference Materials (Food RM) in Asia and to assess individual country needs for these materials. Respondents of the questionnaire came from government institutions, private laboratories, food industries and state universities in 12 countries in Asia involved in food composition data generation. Results showed that only a third of the respondents had been using Food RM in their studies while the remainder were either unaware or not using these materials for logistical reasons or unavailability. The survey revealed emerging interest on the need to establish a Food RM Program in Asia. A common implementation strategy expressed by respondents is the creation of a center, where Food RM can be developed. This center will also be entrusted with the distribution of Food RM and collection, monitoring and evaluation of analytical data. The survey results will help ASIAFOODS in formulating guidelines or planning action regarding the use of Food RM to ensure accurate and dependable food composition data in the Asian region.     

The determination of trace elements in new food grain SRM's using neutron activation analysis

Potentially toxic metals in the food chain that can lead to deleterious effects on human health have been well documented. Because of the toxicity of some metals, levels of 1 ppm or less must be routinely monitored in foods to ensure human safety. To ensure the accuracy of measurement, NBS in a cooperative interagency agreement with the Food and Drug Administration is involved in developing and certifying selected elements in food grain as a part of the Standard Reference Material program. Both instrumental and radiochemical neutron activation analysis were used to analyze two food grain standard reference materials (Rice and Wheat Flours) for trace element certification.     

Preparation of liquid milk for proficiency test and internal quality control for chemical elements in food

Laboratories dealing with the analysis of food of animal origin have to face the shortage of both appropriate certified reference materials and pertinent proficiency tests (PTs). Therefore, internal quality control (IQC) materials have to be prepared in-house. The combination matrix/analytes/concentration, as well as the physical state, is a key issue. The European Union Reference Laboratory for Chemical Elements in Food of Animal Origin (EURL-CEFAO), within its activity as PT provider, has set a procedure to prepare test items of liquid milk spiked with arsenic, cadmium and lead at adequate values of concentration. This work describes in detail the steps of this procedure. Homogeneity and stability of the PT test items thus prepared were evaluated by the EURL-CEFAO using a sensitive and accurate method accredited according to ISO/IEC 17025. The analyte concentrations in spiked milk were found stable up to 18 months which is of particular interest for cadmium due to the low value of spiking (roughly 5 μg/kg). The outcome proves that the procedure used to prepare liquid milk spiked with chemical elements is suitable to produce in-house reference materials stable enough for analytical purposes. Furthermore, this procedure is easy to perform and can be applied by routine laboratories to produce samples for their IQC.     

Determination of 3-chloro-1,2-propanediol in foods and food ingredients by gas chromatography with mass spectrometric detection: collaborative study

The results of a collaborative study are reported for the determination of 3-chloro-1,2-propanediol (3-monochloropropane-1,2-diol; 3-MCPD) in a wide range of foods and food ingredients, using gas chromatography with mass spectrometric detection and incorporating the use of a deuterated internal standard. After a pretrial study, 12 laboratories (6 United Kingdom, 1 Switzerland, 1 Japan, 2 United States, 1 The Netherlands, and 1 from the European Commission) were asked to analyze 12 test materials (as known duplicates or split-level samples) by using a prescribed procedure. The test materials consisted of duplicate samples of acid-hydrolyzed vegetable protein (containing 3-MCPD at 0.029 mg/kg), malt extract (0.055 mg/kg), wholemeal bread crumbs (0.030 mg/kg), salami (0.016 mg/kg), cheese alternative (0.043 mg/kg), and soup powder (split levels at 0.045 and 0.041 mg/kg). Repeatability ranged from 0.005 to 0.013 mg/kg and reproducibility, from 0.010 to 0.027 mg/kg, for the samples tested. Precision values were well within statistically predicted levels (HORRAT values of <1 for 5 of the 6 matrixes tested) and within method criteria prepared by a joint working group composed of the United Kingdom Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food and industry representatives. The study demonstrated the satisfactory validation of the method for quantifying 3-MCPD at levels of > or = 0.010 mg/kg. The limit of detection derived from separate in-house studies was estimated to be 0.005 mg/kg. The method was adopted First Action by AOAC INTERNATIONAL.     

Evaluation of proficiency tests in microbiological analysis: enumeration of aerobic microorganisms

South Korea’s Ministry of Food and Drug Safety (MFDS) has been developing programs for the inspection and accreditation of food sanitation inspection institutions. Food sanitation inspection institutions such as MFDS regional offices, the Research Institute of Public Health and Environment and authorized private service providers in South Korea must participate in proficiency testing (PT) programs to comply with the Food Sanitation Act and MFDS Notification No. 2012-112. As the PT provider, the MFDS annually plans various microbiological and chemical PT programs for foods, cosmetics, and pharmaceutical products in accordance with ISO/IEC 17043. The aim of this project was to evaluate the performance of microbiological PT programs to ensure the quality of their routine test results. The test materials used were freeze-dried BioBalls from BTF Pty Ltd. Homogeneity and stability were investigated to assess the adequacy of the selected test materials. This project also contains data from inter-laboratory comparisons organized by MFDS in 2011 and 2012. More than 50 laboratories attended the PT program and submitted their results. Laboratory results were rated with z-scores according to the international standard ISO 13528. The results from 2011 and 2012 revealed that all participating laboratories had similar levels of proficiency. Most of the participants received a rating of “Satisfactory.” Moreover, the percentage of participants who received a rating of “Unsatisfactory” decreased from 3.5 % in 2011 to 2.0 % in 2012.     

表面增强拉曼光谱技术在食品检测中的应用研究进展

食品污染是危害公众健康和安全的重要问题,探究灵敏、快速、简单的技术,以便在痕量水平上检测污染物,对保障食品质量安全和风险评价具有十分重要的意义.表面增强拉曼光谱(SERS)是利用光与金、银等纳米结构材料相互作用产生很强的表面等离子激元共振效应,可显著增强吸附在纳米结构表面上分子的拉曼信号,以超灵敏获取样品自身或拉曼探针...     

The development and use of food reference materials at the Philippine Food and Nutrition Research Institute

Summary As the Philippine government's main investigator and compiler of local food composition data, the FNRI has been conducting activities on food reference materials since 1987, in accordance with guidelines of the 1983 UNUINFOODS and 1986 ASEANFOODS initiatives. Results of these activities as well as problems encountered therein are summarized. Similar activities of the Asia-Pacific Food Analysis Network (APFAN) are also reported. These activities demonstrate the attempts to harmonize analytical methods in laboratories of the Asia-Pacific region.     

基于热控电极的电致化学发光传感器的研究进展

电致化学发光（ECL）检测技术因其具有无需激发光源、仪器简单、灵敏度高、选择性好等特点,被广泛应用于环境分析、生物分析等领域. 温度是影响ECL的主要因素之一,在传统的ECL传感器中大多是通过溶液整体加热的方法来控制温度,这种方法操作繁琐,且溶液中的热不稳定性物质及易挥发性物质容易受到影响,因此电极很少工作在最适宜的温度下. 热控电极技术可以只提高电极表面温度,而维持溶液的整体温度不变,使用起来具有很好的便利性. 作者课题组首次将热控电极引入到ECL传感器的构建中,由于电极表面和溶液之间存在一定的温度梯度,因此可以引发强制对流,从而加快物质的扩散和对流速率;电极表面温度的升高还可以进一步提高电极表面物质的电化学反应速率,这两方面的共同作用提高了ECL检测的灵敏度. 同时,利用热控电极可以解决整体加热所引起的背景信号升高,挥发性、热不稳定性物质易受温度影响等问题,而且通过电极加热的方法可去除电极表面的污染物,从而提高ECL检测的重现性. 本文综述了近年来基于热控电极技术的ECL传感器的研究进展,主要介绍了热控电极的加热方式、电极种类以及热控电极在ECL中的应用等,并分析了该技术在实际应用中面临的主要问题,对该技术未来的发展趋势进行了展望.     

高效毛细管电泳在食品安全检测中的应用进展

近年来,食品安全问题频发,对人们的健康和社会发展造成了严重的危害,食品安全已成为人们关注的焦点问题之一。食品成分的复杂性、多样性对食品分析技术和方法提出了很高的要求。毛细管电泳(CE)由于分离模式多、分离效率高、分析速度快、试剂和样品用量少、对环境污染小等优点,在食品安全分析方面的应用日趋广泛。本综述对2009年以来CE在食品中非食用添加剂、农药残留、兽药残留、重金属离子污染、食品毒素以及食品包装材料中双酚A和塑化剂的检测方面的应用进行了总结,并对毛细管电泳在食品安全检测领域的主要发展方向进行了展望。共收录文献63篇。     

Regulations relating to mycotoxins in food

Regulations relating to mycotoxins have been established in many countries to protect the consumer from the harmful effects of these compounds. Different factors play a role in the decision-making process of setting limits for mycotoxins. These include scientific factors, for example the availability of toxicological data and occurrence data, detailed knowledge about possibilities for sampling and analysis, and socio-economic issues. By the end of 2003, approximately 100 countries (covering approximately 85% of the world’s inhabitants) had specific regulations or detailed guidelines for mycotoxins in food. The regulations were related to aflatoxins (B₁, B₂, G₁ and G₂), aflatoxin M₁, trichothecenes (deoxynivalenol, diacetoxyscirpenol, T-2 toxin and HT-2 toxin), fumonisins (B₁, B₂, and B₃), agaric acid, ergot alkaloids, ochratoxin A, patulin, phomopsins, sterigmatocystin, and zearalenone. In Europe, and in particular in the EU, regulatory and scientific interest in mycotoxins has undergone a development in the last decade from autonomous national activity towards more EU-driven activity with a structural and network character. Harmonized EU limits now exist for 40 mycotoxin–food combinations. It is expected this number will grow in 2007 to approximately 50. The direct or indirect influence of European organizations and programs on the EU mycotoxin regulatory developments is significant. They include the European Food Safety Authority, the Scientific Cooperation on Questions relating to Food, the Rapid Alert System for Food and Feed, the creation of an EU Community Reference Laboratory for Mycotoxins and a mandate of the EC to the European Standardization Committee in methods for analysis for mycotoxins in food. Large pan-European research and networking projects as “BioCop” and “MoniQA” are also important.     

Survey of residual tetracycline antibiotics and sulfa drugs in kidneys of diseased animals in the Aichi Prefecture,Japan (1995-1999)

Animal kidneys were collected in order to survey the incidence of tetracycline (TC) antibiotics and sulfa (SA) drug residues in slaughtered animals that did not pass inspection for human consumption by the Japanese Food Sanitation Law and the Meat Inspection Law at the slaughterhouses in Aichi Prefecture, Japan, from April 1995 to March 2000. The kidneys were analyzed by AOAC Official Method 995.09 for TCs and our previously reported liquid chromatographic method for SAs. Among 292 animals (94 cattle and 198 pigs), 106 (36.6%) and 41 (14.0%) contained TCs and SAs, respectively, including chlortetracycline, 59 (20.2%); oxytetracycline, 47 (16.1%); sulfamonomethoxine, 35 (12.0%); sulfadimethoxine and sulfamethoxazole, each 2 (0.7%); and sulfamerazine and sulfisoxazole, each 1 (0.3%). A small number of animals (5 cattle and 9 pigs) contained more than one drug residue. The frequency of residue detections was significantly higher for TCs than SAs in both cattle and pig kidneys (p < 0.001).     

PCDD, PCDF, AND DL-PCB analysis in food: performance evaluation of the high-resolution gas chromatography/low-resolution tandem mass spectrometry technique using consensus-based samples

Due to safety concerns regarding dietary exposure to POPs, regulatory bodies are issuing detailed guidelines for testing for polychlorodibenzodioxins (PCDDs) and polychlorodibenzofurans (PCDFs) ('dioxins') and dioxin‐like (DL)‐PCBs in foods of animal origin. Determination of the aforesaid chemicals at regulatory levels requires highly selective and sensitive testing techniques. The new generation of low‐resolution mass spectrometers (triple quadrupoles) allows very low levels of quantification to be reached (in the order of tens of femtograms), thus suggesting a potential for their application in food and feed analysis. The performance of the low‐resolution tandem mass spectrometry (LRMS/MS) approach with triple quadrupoles was assessed on a qualified set of food samples from proficiency tests (PTs) and defense analysis. Accuracy was tested comparing the results with data from high‐resolution mass spectrometry (HRMS) and with consensus values from PTs. The cumulative TEQ results were characterized by deviations not exceeding 15% of PCDD + PCDF, DL‐PCB, and PCDD + PCDF + DL‐PCB (TEQ_TOT) reference consensus values (sample TEQ_TOT range, 2.29–25.1 pgWHO‐TEQ₉₇/g fat). Congener analytical variabilities did not influence significantly the WHO‐TEQ₉₇ outcome of the corresponding sample. This preliminary performance evaluation highlights the potential of LRMS/MS as a routine technique for quantitative analysis of PCDDs, PCDFs, and DL‐PCBs in food. Copyright © 2011 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

基于代谢组学的食品真实属性鉴别研究进展

随着食品工业的快速发展以及生活水平的提高,人们对食品的质量安全提出了更高的要求,市场上的食品掺假造假现象也日益受到社会的关注。目前,主要的食品掺假手段包括假冒物种及品种、冒充或虚标原产地、原料品质以次充好、掺入杂劣质及违禁原料等。因此亟须建立切实有效的食品真实属性鉴别方法。近几年来,国内外一些学者开始将代谢组学研究平台应用于解决食品安全问题的研究,对食品中尽可能多的代谢产物从整体角度进行定性定量分析,为食品真实属性鉴别研究提供了一种新的研究工具。该文综述了基于代谢组学的食品物种及品种鉴别、产地溯源、品质分级和掺假掺杂识别等真实属性鉴别研究,为进一步保证食品质量安全、保障消费者利益提供了技术支撑。     

Determination of bisphenol S in food and drink take away packaging by LC-MS/MS

ABSTRACT

Food packaging is a key part within the food safety. The components of these food contact materials should be studied with great caution because they can migrate to the food depending on several factors. Many of these food containers are made of materials such as polycarbonates or paper and cardboard. These polymeric materials can decompose at high temperatures and bisphenolic compounds, such as bisphenol S, can migrate from the contact material to the food. It is suspected that Bisphenol S is a Bisphenol A substitute and an endocrine disrupter with potential acute toxicity, genotoxicity and estrogenic activity, even in very low concentration on the order of tens to hundreds of nanograms per kilogram body weight. In this work, a method by liquid chromatography coupled to a triple quadrupole mass spectrometer (LC-MS/MS) has been developed for the analysis of bisphenol S in different cardboard take away packaging of food and drinks without any sample preparation step. The analyte was separated on a Kinetex C18 (100 × 2.1 mm, 2.6 μm size of particle) column and using methanol: water as mobile phase. The proposed method exhibited an appropriate sensitivity with a limit of detection of 1 µg/L, good linearity and the analysis is completed in only 3 min.     

基于质谱技术的食品过敏原检测方法研究进展

食品过敏原分析在食品安全领域具有重要的研究意义。质谱技术由于能够提供待分析物的化学结构信息等特点,已逐渐应用于食品过敏原等大分子检测领域,具有简单高效、高特异性、高通量和高灵敏度等优点,引起了研究者们的广泛关注。该文综述了近年来质谱技术在食品过敏原检测领域的最新研究进展情况。     

非正常食用油鉴别新方法(一): 三种辣椒碱残留量的液相色谱-质谱分析

非正常食用油(俗称地沟油)是我国食品安全领域亟须解决的问题。准确可行的地沟油检测方法被分析工作者广泛关注。由于国人的饮食习惯,辣味调料在餐饮业应用广泛,而辣椒碱是引起辣味的主要化学物质,因此可作为鉴别地沟油的潜在指标。本文采用固相萃取-液相色谱-串联质谱技术,建立了食用油中3种微量辣椒碱(辣椒素、二氢辣椒素及壬酸香草酰胺)的检测方法。首先用20 g/L氢氧化钠水溶液提取油样中的辣椒碱,再将提取液用C18小柱富集净化后进行液相色谱-质谱检测。用该法对国家食品安全风险评估中心提供的67个盲样进行了分析,结果表明辣椒碱是一个良好的地沟油特征指示物。凭借这3种辣椒碱指标,阳性样品正确识别率达到75%,阴性样品正确识别率达到100%。目前本方法已经成为国家卫生部最新公布的4种地沟油仪器检测方法之一。