Detection methods regulation, food

III. REGULATION OF DETECTION METHODS FOR FOOD ALLERGENIC INGREDIENTS... 

This volume provides comprehensive information about contaminants in the food industry. The book opens with an explanation of risk analysis and analytical methods used for detecting contaminants in food products. This is followed by full details of relevant EU and USA regulations. The second part of the book provides information about specific contaminants. 

With the help of LC-MS-MS (operating at MRM mode) technique, Lin and co-workers were able to screen through various raw materials and optimise formulations to satisfy the no migration/no food additive statutory exemption of FDA regulation. Extractable results using two of such EB curable formulas (Formula 2 and Formula 3) are listed in Table 11.7 along with those of model Formula 1 using both GC-MS and LC-MS detection methods. 

The development of multiclass methods for the detection of antibacterials and coccidiostats in food samples has shown a growing interest during the last years since the regulations concerning the presence of such chemicals in animal-derived foodstuffs is becoming more and more stringent. The challenges that these types of analyses pose to the analysts mainly have to do with the complexity of the matrix and the different physicochemical properties of the antibacterial families. Therefore, very often, a purification and preconcentration step is required prior to analysis in order to minimize matrix effects and reach the desired sensitivities [192, 193]. 

Reliable laboratory instrumentation is required to guarantee the safety of food products and enforce government regulations. Two main types of commercial instruments are available. One uses chilled mirror dew-point technology, while the other measures relative humidity with sensors that detect changes in electrical resistance or capacitance. Each has advantages and disadvantages. The methods vary in accuracy, repeatability, speed of measurement, stability in calibration, linearity, and convenience of use. 

FDA also concluded that establishing a 0.5 pg/kg dietary concentration as the threshold of regulation is appropriate because it corresponds to a migration level that is above the measurement limit for many of the analytical methods used to quantify migrants from food-contact materials. Thus, decisions are usually made based on dietary concentrations that result from measurable migration into food or food-simulating solvents rather than on worst-case estimates of dietary concentration based on the detection limits of the methods used in the analysis. 

ICP-MS-coupled techniques are expected to increase in popularity, possibly leading to the commercial availability of ready-to-use speciation systems. Among the several approaches so far developed for species identification and quantification with ICP-MS detection in foods, some led to the establishment of sufficiently practicable and reliable analytical protocols for selected analytes/matrices. In a few cases, therefore, there is already the potential for validating routine control methods and this should facilitate the laying-down of species-specific regulations in the international legislation on trace elements in food. 

A new requirement of the final CLIA regulations is that laboratories must perform method validation studies oh all new tests introduced after April 24, 2003. Before this, laboratories that implemented new methods and analytical systems that had been cleared by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) could simply follow manufacturers directions for operation and assume that the manufacturer s performance claims were valid. With the issuance of the final rule, the performance of all new tests must be validated in each laboratory to document the reportable range, precision, accuracy, and reference intervals. For some methods, it may also be necessary to determine the detection limit and to test for possible interferences. 

As red pepper and the corresponding oleoresins are also used for colouring purposes, techniques allowing their quantitative determination by photometric methods, partly after preseparation by TLC, have been developed [243, 244]. Synthetic dyes like Sudan I-IV and para red in capsicum preparation are prohibited by European food regulation because of their carcinogenic potential and can be detected sensitively by HPLC-MS/MS methods ]245, 246]. 

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