A simple, precise, accurate, and validated liquid chromatography-quadrupole linear ion trap mass spectrometry method was developed for the determination of vanillin, ethyl vanillin, and coumarin in infant formula samples. Following ultrasonic extraction with methanol/water (1:1, vol/vol), and clean-up on an HLB solid-phase extraction cartridge (Waters Corp., Milford, MA), samples were separated on a Waters XSelect HSS T3 column (150 × 2.1-mm i.d., 5-μm film thickness; Waters Corp.), with 0.1% formic acid solution-acetonitrile as mobile phase at a flow rate of 0.25 mL/min. Quantification of the target was performed by the internal standard approach, using isotopically labeled compounds for each chemical group, to correct matrix effects. Data acquisition was carried out in multiple reaction monitoring transitions mode, monitoring 2 multiple reaction monitoring transitions to ensure an accurate identification of target compounds in the samples. Additional identification and confirmation of target compounds were performed using the enhanced product ion modus of the linear ion trap. The novel liquid chromatography-quadrupole linear ion trap mass spectrometry platform offers the best sensitivity and specificity for characterization and quantitative determination of vanillin, ethyl vanillin, and coumarin in infant formula and fulfills the quality criteria for routine laboratory application.

A method for simultaneous determination of the 30 organochlorine pesticides (OCP) in milk and milk powder samples has been developed. Prior to the gas chromatography-tandem mass spectrometric analysis, the residual OCP in samples were extracted with n-hexane and acetone mixture (1/1, vol/vol) and cleaned up by gel permeation chromatography and solid phase extraction. Selected reaction monitoring mode was used for gas chromatography-tandem mass spectrometric data acquisition to identify and quantify the OCP. To avoid the matrix effects, matrix-matched calibration solutions ranging from 2 to 50 ng/mL were used to record the calibration curve. Limits of quantification of all OCP were 0.8 μg/kg. With the exception of endrin, limits of quantification are significantly lower than maximum residue limits set by the European Union and China. The average recoveries were in the range of 70.1 to 114.7% at 3 spiked concentration levels (0.8, 2.0, and 10.0 μg/kg) with residual standard deviation lower than 12.9%. The developed method was successfully applied to analyze the OCP in commercial milk products.