Identification of Non-Intentionally Added Substances ( NIAS ) in Food Contact Materials Using APGC-Xevo G 2-XS QTof and UNIFI Software

■ ■ UNIFI® Software provides customized workflows to streamline and simplify elucidation of unknown compounds from food packaging INTRODUCTION Food comes into contact with many materials and articles during its production, processing, storage, preparation, and serving before its eventual consumption. Such materials and articles are called food contact materials (FCMs). Recently, concern about the wholesomeness and safety of food products has increased dramatically. Most of the concern usually focuses on food additives, monomers, oligomers, and non-intentionally added substances (NIAS). A non-intentionally added substance is defined in the European Union (EU) Regulation No 10/2011 as “an impurity in the substances used or a reaction intermediate formed during the production process or a decomposition or reaction product.”1,2 FCMs can, therefore, be considered materials containing a complex mixture of substances of known or unknown identity/origin. Depending on their physico-chemical properties and chemical composition, FCMs may transfer some constituents, both Intentionally Added Substances (IAS) and NIAS to foodstuffs. This mass transfer phenomenon is called migration, and may lead to high exposure to certain chemicals, which might cause a risk for human health.3 Therefore, migration must be evaluated and controlled. Furthermore, where migration brings about an unacceptable change in the composition of food or brings about deterioration in the organoleptic properties of the food, it must be avoided.4