Mass Spectrometry as a Tool for Food Safety Ensurance: Practical Aspects of Application Based on an Example of Works of FGBU VGNKI

Abstract

The list of regulated contaminants for the food safety ensurance is very extensive: drugs (antibiotics, non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs, coccidiostatics, antithyroid drugs, β-adrenergic stimulants, anthelmintic agents, etc.), pesticides, toxic elements, hormones, polychlorinated biphenyls, dioxins, natural toxins (zoo-, phyto-, and mycotoxins, toxins of bacterial origin, and biogenic amines), etc. Laboratory control is the main means of determining contaminants in food raw materials and food products when establishing their compliance with hygienic standards. Mass spectrometry has been the most effective tool for laboratory control both in Russia and abroad for over 20 years. This review considers the procedures developed by the Federal State Budgetary Institution “The Russian State Center for Animal Feed and Drug Standardization and Quality” (FGBU “VGNKI”) with the use of mass spectrometry; these procedures are of greatest interest from the point of view of implementing food safety monitoring in the Russian Federation. Promising areas of research work are also considered taking into account the main problems and achievements in the field of mass spectrometry.