Analytical strategies for the early quality and safety assurance in the global feed chain

Prioritization of chemical food safety hazards in the European feed supply chain

Extensive monitoring programs of chemical hazards in the animal feed chain are in place, both organized by public and private organizations. The objective of this review was to prioritize chemical hazards for monitoring in the European animal feed supply chain. A step-wise approach was designed for the prioritization, based on: historical occurrence of the chemicals in animal feed ingredients and animal feeds (in relation to European guidance values or maximum limits in feed); information on transfer of the chemical to edible animal products, and; the extent of human dietary intake of the products and possible adverse human health effects of the chemical. Possible prioritization outcomes were: high (H), medium (M), or low (L) priority for monitoring, or classification not possible (NC) because of limited available data on the transfer of the chemical to edible animal tissues. The selection of chemicals included (with results in parentheses): dioxins and polychlorinated biphenyls (H); brominated flame retardants (H); per- and polyfluorinated alkyl substances (H); the heavy metals arsenic (H) and cadmium (H) as well as lead (M) and mercury (M); aflatoxins (H), ochratoxin A (NC), and other mycotoxins (L); pyrrolizidine alkaloids (H) and other plant toxins (NC); organochlorine pesticides (H) and other pesticides (L); pharmaceutically active substances (M); hormones (NC); polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (L), heat-induced processing contaminants (NC), and mineral oils (NC). Results of this study can be used to support risk-based monitoring by food safety authorities and feed-producing companies in Europe.

Synthesis of Turbostratic Boron Nitride: Effect of Urea Decomposition

Since the recent discovery of the template-free synthesis of porous boron nitride, research on the synthesis and application of the material has steadily increased. Nevertheless, the formation mechanism of boron nitride is not yet fully understood. Especially for the complex precursor decomposition of urea-based turbostratic boron nitride (t-BN), a profound understanding is still lacking. Therefore, in this publication, we investigate the influence of different common pre-heating temperatures of 100, 200, 300, and 400 °C on the subsequent properties of t-BN. We show that the structure and porosity of t-BN can be changed by preheating, where a predominantly mesoporous material can be obtained. Within these investigations, the sample BN-300/2 depicts the highest mesopore surface area of 242 m² g^-1 with a low amount of micropores compared to other BNs. By thermal gravimetric analysis, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, and Raman spectroscopy, valid details about the formation of intermediates, types of chemical bonds, and the generation of t-BN are delivered. Hence, we conclude that the formation of a mesoporous material arises due to a more complete decomposition of the urea precursor by pre-heating.

Identification of camellia oil using FT-IR spectroscopy and chemometrics based on both isolated unsaponifiables and vegetable oils

Camellia oil is one of editable high-quality oils recommended by Food and Agriculture Organization. Thus the method to authenticate camellia oil is significant research. Saponification is one of the simple and inexpensive processes have been used to identify the adulteration in edible oil. At present, the saponification takes a long time, higher temperature and the isolation of unsaponifiables from saponifiables is tedious. In this research, the enriched saponification process has been developed using ultrasonication technique instead of a conventional reflux method. The process has been significantly reduced to 15 min at 55 °C from the regular saponification which need about 2 h by ISO 18609:2000. The special solid phase extraction (SPE) cartridge has been designed and prepared to separate the unsaponifiables, which separates the residual alkaline substance as well as absorbs water in the organic phase in a single cycle. PLS-DA is used to establish model I based on isolated unsaponifiables and model II based on of vegetable oils for identification of camellia oil. The combined FT-IR and chemometrics based on the isolated unsaponifiables was first used to authenticate vegetable oil. Model I had more sensitivity to discriminate adulterated camellia oils by adulterants whose fatty acid compositions similar to camellia oil such as hazelnut oil, soybean oil, corn oil and cheap mixed oil. On the contrary, model II had more sensitivity to discriminate adulterated camellia oils by adulterant whose fatty acid compositions were different from camellia oil such as palm oil. The results concluded that the FT-IR spectroscopy combined with chemometrics based on both isolated unsaponifiables and vegetable oils could be fast and effective to authenticate camellia oil.