Search

Arsenic is a well-known carcinogenic, mutagenic and toxic element and occurs in the environment both as inorganic arsenic (iAs) and organoarsenical compounds (oAsCs). Since the toxicity of arsenic compounds depends on their chemical form, the identification and determination of arsenic species are essential. Recently, the European Food Safety Authority, following the European Commission request, published a report on chronic dietary exposure to iAs and recommended the development and validation of analytical methods with adequate sensitivity and refined extraction procedures for this determination. Moreover, the authority called upon new arsenic speciation data for complex food matrices such as seaweeds, grains and grain-based products. Looking at this context, an optimized, sensitive and fast analytical method using high performance liquid chromatography followed by inductively coupled plasma—mass spectrometry (HPLC/ICP-MS) was developed for the determination of iAs (sum of arsenite—AsIII and arsenate—AsV) and the most relevant oAsCs, arsenobetaine, dimethylarsinic acid and monomethylarsonic acid. The method was validated with satisfactory results in terms of linearity, sensitivity, selectivity, precision, recovery, uncertainty, ruggedness and matrix effect, and then successfully applied for the analysis of several matrices, i.e., processed and unprocessed cereal and cereal products, fruits, vegetables, legumes, seaweeds, nuts and seeds. The results obtained indicate that not only seaweed and rice matrices but also many cereals, legumes and plant-based foods for infants and young children contain significant concentrations of iAs and oAsCs. These findings contribute to the data collection necessary to assess the role of these matrices in the total arsenic exposure and if specific maximum limits have to be established. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Summary: Due to food safety concerns, the European Food Safety Authority asked for novel approaches for identifying mechanically separated meat (MSM) in meat products. In this work, a novel and simplified approach for MSM identification in meat products is presented. This approach is based on the calcium and magnesium determination by suppressed cation‐exchange chromatography coupled to conductivity detection, after sample mineralisation. One hundred samples of meat products were analysed. The difference between calcium and magnesium concentration (MSMindex) was identified as the most significant parameter useful for discriminating the presence of MSM in the product. The approach was also validated by analysing simulated meat samples containing increasing percentages of MSM. Meat samples with MSMindex higher than 390 mg kg−1 can be classified as MSM products, even if the MSM was obtained at high or low pressure. The protocol is applicable for MSM identification in meat products with MSM percentage higher than 25%. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

[Display omitted] • Mechanically separated meat identification is important in food safety control. • A food safety control tool based on ICP-MS and multivariate analysis is proposed. • Forty-three elements were determined in 110 meat products for validation purpose. • The total prediction rate and accuracy obtained were 97.2% and 90%, respectively. The European Food Safety Authority asked for novel approaches for identifying mechanically separated meat (MSM) in meat products, due to food safety concern. In this study, a novel approach based on multivariate analysis of 43 trace elements in meat products is described. Overall, 27 trace elements and 16 rare earth elements were determined by using ICP-MS after sample mineralization of 100 meat samples, composed of different percentages of MSM, obtained at low and high pressure, and without MSM. After development and optimization, the multivariate approach was validated by analyzing and then classifying 10 "blind" meat samples, obtaining method accuracy equal to 90%. Thus, the applicability of this new analytical approach was demonstrated. The method represents a significant improvement for this type of determination, especially when MSM is obtained at low pressure, since this product is characterized by chemical characteristics very similar to fresh meat. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]