Application of Thermal Extraction-GC/MS to Food Contamination Analysis

In recent years, cases of food contamination by foreign matter have increased, heightening the necessity of contamination analysis by food manufacturers. The Fourier transform infrared spectrometer (FTIR) and energy dispersive X-ray fluorescent spectrometer (EDX) are used in identification of contaminants by instrumental analysis. The pyrolysis-GC/MS method and thermal extraction-GC/MS method are employed in contamination analysis by GC/MS, and enable qualitative analysis of resin materials and additives contained in trace organic contaminants.
This article introduces the results of an analysis of additives in a food contaminant by the thermal extraction-GC/MS method. An OPTIC-4 multimode inlet for GC/MS was used in the analysis by thermal extraction-GC/MS. Qualitative analysis of the additives with a high degree of accuracy was possible by using the Shimadzu Polymer Additives Library (GC/MS mass spectra library) in the qualitative analysis.