Food safety is a widespread global concern with the emergence of foodborne diseases. Thus, establishing accurate and sensitive detection methods of harmful contaminants in different food matrices is essential to address and prevent the associated health risks. Among various analytical tools, mass spectrometry (MS) can quantify multiple impurities simultaneously due to high resolution and accuracy and can achieve non-target profiling of unknown pollutants in food. Therefore, MS has been widely used for determination of hazardous contaminants [e.g., mycotoxin, pesticide and veterinary drug residues, polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs), dioxins, acrylamide, perfluorinated compounds (PFCs) and p-Phenylenediamine compounds (PPDs) in food samples]. This work summarizes MS applications in detecting harmful contaminants in food matrices, discusses advantages of MS for food safety study, and provides a perspective on future directions of MS development in food research. With the persistent occurrence of novel contaminants, MS will play a more and more critical role in food analysis.

In this paper, a simple and effective method for the determination of six macrolide antibiotics (MACs), including tylosin, tilmicosin, azithromycin, clarithromycin, roxithromycin, and kitasamycin, in the chicken sample using liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS) was developed based on a self-built porous aromatic framework- (PAF-) based solid phase sorbent. The main parameters influencing the extraction efficiency, such as sorbent amounts, type of the eluent, pH of the sample, and the eluent volume, were evaluated. Under the optimized condition, the limits of detection were from 0.2 to 0.5 μg·kg⁻¹. The recoveries of the method ranged from 82.1% to 101.4% with the relative standard deviations less than 11.1%. All the results demonstrated that the established method is potential for the determination of macrolide antibiotics in food safety analysis and monitoring.

A novel dual-shell magnetic nanoparticle coated with a cationic covalent organic framework, containing ethidium bromide, is easily prepared, characterized and applied as an adsorbent for fast, simple and highly selective capture of nine hydroxylated polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons in urine samples of non-smokers and smokers who smoked cigarettes with different tar yields. This is the first time that a cationic crystalline framework with high thermal and chemical stability was used for magnetic solid phase extraction. Multiple probes and quantum chemistry theory calculations were conducted to describe the versatile adsorption property directly and quantifiably. A method using high-performance liquid chromatography with a fluorescence detector based on the prepared magnetic adsorbent was established and used to investigate differences in the exposure levels of OH-PAHs in non-smokers and smokers smoking cigarettes with different tar yields. All the OH-PAH analyses present good linearities in the range of 0.1–100 ng mL⁻¹, with R² > 0.9965. The LOD for the 9 OH-PAHs ranged from 0.0030 to 0.0096 ng mL⁻¹ and the LOQ ranged from 0.096 to 0.030 ng mL⁻¹. The recoveries of the 9 OH-PAHs ranged from 93.3 to 121.3% with the RSD ranging from 0.47 to 3.53%. These results imply that the versatile EB-DS MNPs as adsorbents have great potential in the analysis of trace targets in samples with complex matrices.

Xiao Mo Xiang You (XMXY) is a traditional Chinese sesame oil variety that is obtained through a hot water flotation process. This unique process gives the oil a unique aroma, health benefits, and excellent product stability. Although XMXY is always the most expensive among all the sesame oil varieties, it is usually used as a flavoring in many traditional Chinese daily food products and is increasingly popular. In order to reveal the characteristics of the oil, the volatile components, sensory evaluation, and oxidation stability of five XMXY samples were, respectively, analyzed by using headspace solid-phase microextraction/gas chromatography–mass spectrometry, an electronic nose, sensory evaluation, and RapidOxy. Comparisons and multidimensional statistical analysis were also carried out to distinguish XMXY from roasted sesame oil (RSO) and cold-pressed sesame oil (CSO) samples. In total, 69 volatiles were identified from XMXY, RSO, and CSO samples. Some compounds possessed high odor activity value (OAV > 1) in XMXY, including heterocyclic compounds, phenols, and sulfur-containing compounds. Additionally, they were also the main volatile components that distinguish XMXY from RSO and CSO. Roasted and nutty aromas were the dominant aroma attributes of XMXY. XMXY had better flavor intensity and oxidation stability than the other two sesame oil samples. These results are very valuable for the quality control and product identification of traditional Chinese sesame oil.