Semicarbazide in Canadian bakery products

Abstract

Levels of semicarbazide were determined by liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry using isotope dilution (¹³C¹⁵N₂-semicarbazide) methodology, and they were measured, after hydrolysis in 0.125 M hydrochloric acid and derivatization with 2-nitrobenzaldehyde, as a sum of free and bound semicarbazide. Levels of semicarbazide in 11 bakery products, which were sampled at three time intervals from the same source, varied from not detected (<1 ng g⁻¹) to 560 ng g⁻¹. In some instances, concentrations of semicarbazide varied between batches of the same product, at times more than tenfold, suggesting that the addition of azodicarbonamide to the same product is not standardized in many baking establishments.

Keywords:

• Semicarbazide
• azodicarbonamide
• bread
• flour additive
• LC-MS/MS.