AOAC 133rd Annual Meeting - Final Program

Poster Abstracts | Monday

P-M-023 Michael Halvorson , Tracy Smith , AGS Scientific, Bryan, TX, USA Determination of Total Mercury Levels in Kratom Products Using a Portable Thermal Vaporization (Combustion) Mercury Analyzer Kratom is an herbal plant ( Mitragyna speciosa ) which grows naturally in countries such as Malaysia, Thailand, Indonesia, Fiji, and Papua New Guinea. It is often used recreationally as well as to alleviate pain, and combat depression or anxiety. Both the FDA and DEA have raised concerns about the safety of kratom. The FDA recently tested 30 different kratom products and found significant levels of lead and nickel. The purpose of this study was to determine the concentrations of total mercury (Hg) in a variety of different commercially available kratom products. Samples were analyzed using a Nippon Instruments Corporation (NIC) MA-3 Solo Portable Mercury Analyzer (combustion and amalgamation technology with CVAAS detection). The method was sensitive enough to detect levels of Hg in the low ppt range. Optimization parameters, including linearity, sensitivity, accuracy and precision will be discussed. A table showing the Hg levels found in all samples will be presented. Presenter: Michael Halvorson, AGS Scientific, Bryan, TX, USA, Email: mhalvorson@agssci.com FOOD AUTHENTICITY/FOOD FRAUD P-M-024 Jenny Nelson , Agilent Technologies, Inc., Berkeley, CA, USA Geographic Origin of Spices Using Elemental Analysis High-value foods such as wine, rice, oils, honey, fruit juices, tea, coffee, and spices that are marketed according to their provenance are susceptible to food fraud. Additional profits can be made in several ways, for example by blending good quality, authentic products with inferior and cheaper ingredi- ents or by deliberately misbranding a low-quality product as a higher value one. Food-fingerprinting can help combat fraudu- lent activity. Food-products can be authenticated based on the pattern of their trace element-content, which is characteristic of the soil composition in the region of production. This study uses three different technologies; microwave digestion, ICP-OES, and ICP-MS, to determine if spice origin from different countries could be accurately distinguished. Spice samples were sourced from a large U.S. importer of spices that can verify the country of origin. The results of this study demonstrate the validity and applicability of the analytical approaches used. Presenter: Jenny Nelson, Agilent Technologies, Inc., Berkeley, CA, USA, Email: jenny_nelson@agilent.com P-M-025 Heather Jordan , LGC Group, Traverse City, MI, USA; Matthew Whetton , LGC Group, Bury, United Kingdom Fish Authenticity: A Review of Participant Performance and Demographics from an Established PT Offering LGC is a global provider of proficiency testing (PT) schemes in the field of food quality testing. When the horse meat scandal

struck Europe in 2013, LGC launched a meat authenticity PT scheme. Since then, additional authenticity test materials have been added, including cheese and fish. According to a paper published by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations in 2018, Overview of Food Fraud in the Fisheries Sector , fish and aquaculture are among the most vulnerable to adulteration, both intentional and unintentional, including mislabeling, species substitution, and preparation practices. A 2016 report by Oceana found an average of 20% of retail and catering sector fish was mislabeled. The evolution of molecular methods allows for more timely and improved transparency in the industry. As we rely on laboratory analytical measure- ment results to ensure integrity of the seafood market, we must simultaneously ensure laboratories entrusted with this analysis are providing accurate and comparable measurement results. One means of externally monitoring laboratory performance is through routine proficiency testing. The LGC PT scheme oper- ates globally, with concentrations of participants in Europe and North America. The fish authenticity scheme has been available since 2014, offering one round of testing per year. This poster will examine the performance of laboratories since the introduc- tion of the test material as well as the evolution of laboratory participation. Presenter: Heather Jordan, LGC Group, Traverse City, MI, USA, Email: Heather.Jordan@LGCGroup.com P-M-026 Geoffrey Cottenet , Nestec Ltd-Nestlé Research Center, Lausanne, Switzerland; Mario Gadanho , SGS Molecular, Lisbon, Portugal; Amanda Manolis , Thermo Fisher Scientific, Austin, TX, USA Next Generation Sequencing for Food Authenticity, Traceability, and Safety Food authenticity and fraud are hot topics in the food industry and highly controlled by authorities. The complexity of the food supply chain is challenging the abilities of analytical tools used for traceability of ingredients for food production. This can be critical, especially when testing highly processed and complex foods that often contain multiple different species. The introduc- tion of NGS into the food sector revolutionizes food authenticity testing. Untargeted NGS approach enables accurate detection and differentiation of thousands of different species in each sample using DNA sequencing that is recognized as the most reliable method for species identification. In this study, an inno- vative NGS-based approach was tested for meat, fish and plant species identification. This NGS approach for meat, fish and plant identification was tested. 550 samples were tested includ- ing artificial mixtures of species spiked at 1, 5, and 10%, single species samples, reference material and real food samples. The untargeted sequencing workflow includes DNA extraction, library construction, template preparation, sequencing and data analysis. The SGS ALLspeciesID products were used for library construction and data analysis. Template preparation and sequencing were performed using the Ion Chef™ Food Protection instrument and Ion GeneStudio™ S5 Food Protection System. The semi-paired study was conducted at Nestlé Research Center and SGS. Results showed 85-100% agreement between two sites. Presenter: Amanda Manolis, Thermo Fisher Scientific, Austin, TX, USA, Email: amanda.manolis@thermofisher.com

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