Determination of furan in jarred baby food purchased from the Spanish market by headspace gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (HS-GC-MS)

Abstract

The aim of this paper is to offer a method based on headspace gas chromatography-mass (HS-GC-MS) spectrometry technique in-house validated and use to estimate furan concentrations in jarred baby-food samples purchased from the Spanish market. The validation was performed according to ISO 17025 and European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) requirements and the results obtained (limit of detection (LOD) = 0.05 µg kg⁻¹; limit of quantification (LOQ) = 4 µg kg⁻¹, lowest validated level; relative standard deviation (RSD) = 3.1–10.5%; recoveries = 85.4–101.5%) confirm that this method is fit for the routine analysis of furan in jarred baby food control. Furan was analysed in 39 different baby-food samples and the mean levels varied between 64.6 µg kg⁻¹ (rice and chicken samples) and less than or equal to the LOQ (fruit-based samples). The mean concentrations found for the different matrices were 5.0, 37.8, 25.2, 33.8 and 30.5 µg kg⁻¹ for fruit, vegetables, meat/vegetables, fish/vegetables and dairy-containing baby foods, respectively. According to the statistical analyses, fruit-based baby-food samples had significantly lower concentrations of furan. Mean values for the other matrices were at least five times higher, and this is in accordance with the levels reported in other studies.

Keywords:

• gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC/MS)
• headspace
• process contaminants
• baby food

Acknowledgements

The authors would like to thank Juana Bustos and Marta Tello for technical assistance and critically reading of the manuscript.