SIMULTANEOUS DETERMINATION OF SORBIC ACID, BENZOIC-ACID AND PARABENS IN FOODS - A NEW GAS-CHROMATOGRAPHY MASS-SPECTROMETRY TECHNIQUE ADOPTED IN A SURVEY ON ITALIAN FOODS AND BEVERAGES

A gas chromatographic-mass spectrometric technique is described for th e simultaneous determination of sorbates, benzoates and other lipophil ic preservatives in foods and beverages. The selected ions monitoring (SIM) technique allowed unambiguous identification of the compounds un der study. This methodology eliminated all kinds of interferences from the complex food matrices which affect most routinely-used techniques , HPLC included. A very simple and time-saving extraction procedure wa s therefore employed, since subsequent purification steps were unneces sary, even for detection of trace levels of preservatives. The detecti on limits fell within the range of 100-200 pg. With this analytical te chnique, we have conducted a survey on sorbic acid, benzoic acid, meth yl, ethyl, and propyl LT-hydroxybenzoate levels in 249 samples of food s and beverages on sale in markets in the Rome area. Samples were chos en from among those currently preserved by these additives. All compou nds were also determined by a routinely-used HPLC technique for method comparison.