Single-laboratory validation of a method for the determination of select volatile organic compounds in foods by using vacuum distillation with gas chromatography/mass spectrometry.

Recent studies showed that headspace and purge and trap methods have limitations when used to determine volatile organic compounds (VOCs) in foods, including matrix effects and artifact formation from precursors present in the sample matrix or from thermal decomposition. U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Method 8261A liberates VOCs from the sample matrix by using vacuum distillation at room temperature. The method was modified and validated for the determination of furan, chloroform, benzene, trichloroethene, toluene, and sytrene in infant formula, canned tuna (in water), peanut butter, and an orange beverage (orange-flavored noncarbonated beverage). The validation studies showed that the LOQ values ranged from 0.05 ng/g toluene in infant formula to 5.10 ng/g toluene in peanut butter. Fortified recoveries were determined at the first, second, and third standard additions, and concentrations ranged from 0.07 to 6.9 ng/g. When quantified by the method of standard additions, the recoveries ranged from 56 to 218% at the first standard addition and 89 to 117% at the third. The validated method was used to conduct a survey of the targeted VOCs in 18 foods. The amounts found ranged from none detected to 73.8 ng/g furan in sweet potato baby food.