What Are We Eating? Surveying the Presence of Toxic Molecules in the Food Supply Chain Using Chromatographic Approaches
Abstract
Consumers in developed and Western European countries are becoming more aware of the impact of food on their health, and they demand clear, transparent, and reliable information from the food industry about the products they consume. They recognise that food safety risks are often due to the unexpected presence of contaminants throughout the food supply chain. Among these, mycotoxins produced by food-infecting fungi, endogenous toxins from certain plants and organisms, pesticides, and other drugs used excessively during farming and food production, which lead to their contamination and accumulation in foodstuffs, are the main causes of concern. In this context, the goals of this review are to provide a comprehensive overview of the presence of toxic molecules reported in foodstuffs since 2020 through the Rapid Alert System for Food and Feed (RASFF) portal and use chromatography to address this challenge. Overall, natural toxins, environmental pollutants, and food-processing contaminants are the most frequently reported toxic molecules, and liquid chromatography and gas chromatography are the most reliable approaches for their control. However, faster, simpler, and more powerful analytical procedures are necessary to cope with the growing pressures on the food chain supply.
Description
This research was funded by the Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia (FCT) with Portuguese Government funds through the CQM Base Fund, UIDB/00674/2020 (DOI: 10.54499/UIDB/00674/2020) and the Programmatic Fund, UIDP/00674/2020 (DOI 10.54499/UIDP/00674/2020), the ARDITI-Agência Regional para o Desenvolvimento da Investigação Tecnologia e Inovação through funds from Região Autónoma da Madeira-Governo Regional, and the Interreg MAC 2014–2020 Cooperacion Territorial through AD4MAC project (MAC2/1.1 b/350), for the invited researcher contract granted to J.A.M.P. The research was also funded by the call Proyectos de Impulso a la Investigación para Jóvenes Doctores de la Universidad Rey Juan Carlos, project PROCESALK ref. M2984.
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