Key messages

• The project focuses on improving food safety by detecting hazardous chemicals, including unknown and emerging contaminants, in food products.
• Traditional testing methods only target known compounds, but this project uses high-resolution mass spectrometry to identify a broader range of potential food contaminants.
• The project explores how advanced screening methods can be incorporated into food monitoring and control plans to detect complex contaminant mixtures.

Overview

Traditional food safety monitoring mainly relies on targeted analytical methods that focus on specific, known chemicals. However, the growing variety and quantity of both known and unknown chemicals in the market necessitate more comprehensive detection strategies.  

Currently, the presence of hazardous chemicals in food is monitored using targeted methods that focus on a limited number of compounds. Although laboratories are continuously expanding the list of chemicals they monitor, this strategy is inadequate for addressing hundreds of thousands of known and unknown chemicals that continuously enter the market or are produced as by-products. Advances in analytical technology, such as high-resolution mass spectrometry, allow for the identification of potentially hazardous contaminant in food samples using screening methods like suspect screening. Suspect screening is an approach that screens for chemicals suspected to be present in a sample, even if they are not confirmed.  

This project aims to develop innovative tools for analysing food samples, adapt them to fit regulatory needs, and promote consistency in food monitoring practices. 

It will compare various analytical strategies and workflows—from sample preparation to data processing—to identify their strengths and overlaps in detecting traces of known, emerging, and unknown chemicals in food. Additionally, the project will conduct a proof-of-concept study to assess the relevance of such developed screening methods as part of monitoring and control plans. This will help identify original contaminant mixtures from real-world data and contribute to the early warning system for emerging chemical concerns, ultimately benefiting food policy makers.  

Achievements & Results

The interlaboratory exercise was designed through a collaborative process involving all project partners. An online survey and detailed questionnaire collected information on partners’ analytical capabilities, preferred food matrices, and in-house protocols for sample preparation and analysis. This input was used to finalise the experimental design during an online meeting held in February 2024, with further refinements based on feedback from the partners and discussions with work package leaders.

The finalised experimental design included the analysis of two food matrices—baby food and honey—fortified with 30 substances, comprising 10 known and 20 unknown compounds. Samples were prepared at three concentration levels (blank, low, and high) and distributed to partners for analysis using their preferred methods involving liquid or gas chromatography coupled with High-Resolution Mass Spectrometry ↗. A total of 54 samples per partner were provided for triplicate extraction and analysis.

In November 2024, all samples were sent to all project partners, officially launching the interlaboratory comparison.

Policy relevance

This project will evaluate laboratories' capabilities to perform analyses with new instruments and methods, harmonize results and approaches, and assess their suitability for regulatory applications.