Food Safety Analysis

Authors: Lehotay, Steven

Submitted to: Analytical and Bioanalytical Chemistry
Publication Type: Other
Publication Acceptance Date: 5/3/2018
Publication Date: 5/11/2018
Citation: Lehotay, S.J. 2018. Food Safety Analysis. Analytical and Bioanalytical Chemistry. 410(22):5329:5330. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00216-018-1129-0.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00216-018-1129-0

Interpretive Summary:

Technical Abstract: Safety, availability, and nutrition of food ranks among the fundamental needs for human. Food safety as important today as ever, and the safeguards to reduce pathogens, toxins, toxic elements and other deleterious contaminants in our food supply has helped improve human health and increase the length and quality of lives. Analysis of foods constitutes the primary component of food safety systems. Enforcement actions nearly always rely on analytical results as evidence, and since lives and livelihoods are often at stake, the methods used must be demonstrated to yield accurate and valid results. These analyses not only help protect human and animal health, but are also intended to protect the environment and ecosystem from improper use of agrochemicals. To make informed decisions about currently regulated, emerging, and/or unknown adulterants, accurate monitoring results are needed to estimate exposure as part of science-based (eco)toxicological acute and chronic risk assessments. International food trade, registrations of pesticides and veterinary drugs, academic research, and several other applications depend on the availability of high quality analytical methods that suit the purposes for the analysis. To meet those diverse needs, analytical capabilities have advanced tremendously compared to the earliest bio-sensing methods. This special issue on food safety analysis covers a variety of applications in the field, consisting of many research studies and reviews about analytical developments in this always important and currently growing area of research.