In-house validation of accelerated solvent extraction-gas chromatography-mass spectrometry for the determination of bound 3- and 2-monochloropropanediols (MCPD) and glycidol in food products.

The study aimed to establish the detection method for bound 3-, 2-MCPD, and glycidol using accelerated solvent extraction (ASE) and gas chromatography mass spectrometry (GC-MS). The ASE was modified for reduced solvent volume and process time to extract lipid from the chocolate spread, infant formula, potato chips, and sweetened creamer. The solvent selected for ASE was a mixture of iso-hexane and acetone at 100°C with the lipid and analyte recovery ranging from 96.9% to 98.6% and 84.1% to 107.5%, respectively. The derivatisation of analytes was adopted from the AOCS method Cd29a-13 for GC-MS analysis. The results showed that the coefficient of determination (R2) of all analytes was >0.99. The limit of detection (LOD) was 0.1 mg kg-1 expressed in lipid basis for both bound 3- and 2-MCPD and 0.2 mg kg-1 expressed in lipid basis for bound glycidol. The limit of quantitation (LOQ) was 0.3 mg kg-1 expressed in lipid basis for both bound 3- and 2-MCPD and 0.6 mg kg-1 expressed in lipid basis for bound glycidol. A blank spiked with 3-monochloropropanediols fatty acid esters (MCPDE) and 2-MCPDE (0.3, 2.1, and 7.2 mg kg-1) and glycidol esters (0.6, 4.7, and 16.6 mg kg-1) were chosen for accuracy and precision tests. The recoveries were 91.7% to 105.9%. Both repeatability and within-laboratory reproducibility of the analysis were within the acceptable level of precision ranging from 1.7% to 16%. This is the first time that a full validation procedure extending to both accuracy and precision tests has been carried out for sweetened creamer and chocolate spread. Overall, the combined protocol of ASE and AOCS Cd29a-13 was successfully validated for both solid and liquid food samples with lipid content from 10% to 30%.

Occurrence of fatty acid esters of 3-MCPD, 2-MCPD and glycidol in infant formula.

The discovery of fatty acid esters of monochloropropanediol (MCPD) and glycidol generated during the refinement process in vegetable fats and oils caused concerns about possible adverse health effects. As these fats are components of infant formula, the current investigation of the MCPD and glycidyl ester contents in infant formula was necessary to update the data for risk assessment purposes. For the analysis of 3-MCPD, 2-MCPD and glycidyl esters in infant formula, an existing method for fats and oils had to be modified and validated. The fat fraction containing MCPD and glycidyl esters was extracted from infant formula by accelerated solvent extraction (ASE). The extracted fat was then analysed according to an established method for fats and oils. Glycidyl esters are converted to monobrompropanediol (3-MBPD) esters, MCPD and 3-MBPD esters hydrolysed subsequently and after derivatisation detected by GC-MS. Seven different products of infant formula, covering two types and five lots each, altogether 70 samples, were bought in retail markets and analysed. In all samples, 3-MCPD and glycidyl esters could be detected. Both 3-MCPD and glycidyl esters' concentration levels were found to be lower in comparison with earlier investigations described in the literature. The occurrence of 2-MCPD esters in infant formula was investigated for the first time and revealed concentrations about half of 3-MCPD ester concentrations.