Residues of two applied parent insecticides, imidacloprid and thiamethoxam, in sweet potato stems (Ipomoea batatas L.) were investigated during field dissipation, household processing, and dietary exposure assessment. Residues were determined using a QuEChERS-LC-MS/MS method validated in raw and processed matrices. The LOQ was 0.01 mg/kg, matrix-matched calibration showed R2 > 0.999, and recoveries ranged from 77.8 to 104.1%. Field dissipation followed first-order kinetics, with DT50 values of 2.5 days for imidacloprid and 1.8 days for thiamethoxam. Boiling gave the lowest processing factors (0.24 and 0.32), mainly through transfer into boiling water. Microwaving increased fresh-weight concentrations because of moisture loss, although dry-weight reduction factors remained below 1. Age-specific, commodity-specific, chronic dietary exposure estimates for sweet potato stems were low for all sample types and age groups, with %ADI values of 0-0.244% for imidacloprid and 0-0.143% for thiamethoxam. These results provide processing-factor and residue redistribution data that can support chronic dietary exposure assessment for processed sweet potato stems.

Food additives are widely used in packaged foods, yet concerns regarding cumulative exposure and potential health effects continue to grow. This study evaluated through label analysis the prevalence, functional classes, and distribution of food additives in 2,149 packaged food products marketed in Türkiye. A total of 5,826 additive use instances were identified, corresponding to a mean of 2.78 additives per product. Carbonated beverages showed the highest additive load, whereas jams, chocolates, and spreadable products exhibited the lowest. Thickeners/stabilisers and acidity regulators were the most common functional classes, followed by preservatives and antioxidants. Sodium nitrite predominated in meat products, while citric acid was the most frequently reported additive in beverages. Preservatives were most prevalent in meat products, whereas sweeteners and colourants were concentrated in carbonated beverages. These findings provide comprehensive evidence on food additive use in packaged foods in Türkiye and may support regulatory policies, food reformulation strategies, and consumer awareness initiatives.

Rooibos is a naturally caffeine-free herbal tea, widely consumed in Europe and perceived as a safe drink. However, contamination by natural toxins can pose a potential food safety concern for regular consumers. This study investigated the presence of 32 pyrrolizidine alkaloids (PAs), 16 tropane alkaloids (TAs), and 56 mycotoxins in 203 rooibos samples purchased from 18 European countries, using UHPLC-MS/MS. PAs were detected in 98% of the samples and were dominated by Senecio-type alkaloids, particularly senecionine N-oxide, senecionine, and retrorsine N-oxide. The mean and median total PA concentrations were 47 and 33 μg/kg, respectively, and all 2024 samples were below the EU maximum level of 400 μg/kg. TAs were rarely detected, with atropine present in only two samples and at low concentrations. Mycotoxin analysis revealed widespread contamination by Alternaria toxins, especially tenuazonic acid, detected in all samples, followed by alternariol monomethyl ether, alternariol, and tentoxin. Transfer experiments showed significant migration of PAs and Alternaria toxins into infusions. Preliminary exposure estimates have suggested a limited risk at mean contamination levels, although highly contaminated samples may contribute significantly to cumulative exposure to PAs. A comparison of results obtained between 2020 and 2026 suggested lower median PA contamination after implementation of the EU limit, despite sporadic exceedances.

Green leafy vegetables (GLVs), which are vital and widely consumed worldwide, require monitoring for contaminants, including toxic elements (TEs). This study measured total concentrations (TC) and bioavailable concentrations (BC) of arsenic (As), cadmium (Cd), lead (Pb), chromium (Cr), and nickel (Ni) in 15 GLV types in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. Then, a health risk assessment (HRA) was conducted for TEs based on their BC and TC using the Monte Carlo simulation (MCS) method. The BC of TEs in GLV samples was estimated using an in vitro gastrointestinal digestion model combined with a dialysis step. The procedure simulated gastric and intestinal phases to reflect human digestion conditions. The TC of TEs was determined after acid digestion using inductively coupled plasma-optical emission spectroscopy (ICP-OES), and in vitro dialysability was used to estimate the BC of TEs. The Maximum Permissible Limits (PLs) (mg/kg) based on FAO/WHO standards are 0.15 for As, 0.30 for Pb, 0.20 for Cd, 2.30 for Cr, and 67.9 for Ni. The results indicated that levels of As, Cd, and Pb frequently exceeded these WHO/FAO limits. Across all GLV types, the bioavailability (BAV) percentages for As, Pb, Cd, Cr, and Ni were 6.8-10.5, 10.2-17.7, 16.2-22.1, 14.7-19.7, and 14.5-22.3, respectively. The average BAV percentages of TEs in all GLVs were 9.0, 14.4, 16.6, 18.2, and 18.5 for As, Pb, Cr, Cd, and Ni, respectively. The hazard index (HI) based on TC was 2.25 (unacceptable risk), whereas the HI based on BC was 0.26 (acceptable risk). Total cancer risk (TCR) was significantly different between TC and BC, with values of 3.8E-03 and 7.1E-04, respectively. Even at BC levels, carcinogenic risks for Cd, Cr, and TCR were significant and unacceptable for some GLVs. Therefore, monitoring, environmental assessment, and control of pollution sources are essential to ensure the safety of GLVs consumed in Riyadh.

Juvenile hormone analogues (JHAs) are known to affect insect growth and can potentially be used in edible insect rearing. In this study, a reversed-phase liquid chromatography coupled to tandem mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS) method was developed for the detection of five common juvenile hormone analogues (fenoxycarb, pyriproxyfen, methoprene, kinoprene, and hydroprene) in mealworms. Sample clean-up was performed using reversed-phase solid-phase extraction cartridges. To enhance ionisation, methoprene, kinoprene, and hydroprene are detected as their 4-phenyl-1,2,4-triazoline-3,5-dione (PTAD) derivatives. The method was fully validated according to Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) 2021/808 and is capable of both quantitative and qualitative confirmation of fenoxycarb, pyriproxyfen, methoprene, and kinoprene (CCα values of 6.0-29 µg kg[-1]), and qualitative screening of hydroprene (with a CCβ of 7.7 µg kg[-1]). Additionally, it was demonstrated that liquid chromatography coupled to high-resolution mass spectrometry (LC-HRMS) can also be used for the screening of JHA residues at relevant levels. The LC-MS/MS method was used to demonstrate the presence of methoprene in an incurred sample of mealworms. Finally, 14 mealworm samples originating from the Dutch national residue control plan were analysed, and none of the target analytes were found.

Food preservatives and preservative-related additives support food safety and shelf-life extension, but their environmental relevance depends on compound-specific release pathways, transformation behaviour, and receiving compartments. This structured narrative review synthesises evidence on the environmental exposure, fate, transformation products, and potential impacts of major preservative classes, including weak-acid antimicrobials, nitrite/nitrate curing systems, sulphites, synthetic phenolic antioxidants, chelators, bacteriocins/polyenes, and selected plant-derived antimicrobial or antioxidant compounds. The evidence shows that environmental loading can occur through food-processing effluents, household disposal, wastewater treatment, discarded food, landfill leachate, compost/digestate, sludge, biosolids, and preservative-loaded packaging or coating residues. Wastewater treatment should not be interpreted as uniformly ineffective; rather, removal, transformation, and partitioning are class-specific. Weak acids, sulphites, peptide preservatives, and many plant-derived compounds are often readily degraded or rapidly transformed, although near-field exposures and transformation products may still be relevant under high-loading or matrix-protected conditions. In contrast, synthetic phenolic antioxidants, EDTA and selected metal-EDTA complexes, paraben-related transformation products, and sludge-associated residues require closer environmental attention because of persistence, solid partitioning, metal-complex mobility, biosolid transfer, or transformation-product formation. The review also emphasises that 'natural,' 'organic,' and 'clean-label' descriptors should not be used as proxies for environmental safety. Environmental assessment should instead be based on measured occurrence, realistic exposure scenarios, degradation pathways, transformation products, sludge/biosolid partitioning, soil and sediment fate, plant uptake, and ecotoxicological endpoints. Future work should prioritise transformation-product-aware monitoring and class-specific risk assessment.

Traditional Chinese medicines (TCMs) are globally utilised, with approximately 80% of the world's population relying on herbal medicines for healthcare. The rapid growth of the TCM industry has raised significant concerns regarding pesticide residues, which pose risks to product quality and public health. Current monitoring is insufficient, and divergent international regulations challenge safety assurance and trade. This study aimed to develop and validate a multi-residue method for detecting 589 pesticides in multi-matrix TCMs using QuEChERS sample preparation coupled with LC-MS/MS. Twenty-eight TCMs, categorised into five groups (radix/rhizome, fructus, flos, folium/cortex, herba), were analysed. Samples were extracted with acidified acetonitrile and cleaned up with a composite sorbent (PSA/C18/GCB/MgSO4/SiO2). Analysis employed a C18 column and dynamic multiple reaction monitoring (DMRM). The method demonstrated excellent linearity (R[2] > 0.999) from 1-50 ng/g. The method detection limits (MDLs) and quantification limits (MQLs) were 0.003-0.004 mg/kg and 0.01 mg/kg, respectively. Average recoveries ranged from 60% to 121% with RSDs ≤ 20.0%. Application to 120 commercial batches revealed 98 pesticides, with farmland-grown root/rhizome TCMs showing the highest levels (e.g. diphenylamine at 317 μg/kg). The validated method establishes a robust high-throughput platform for global regulatory monitoring. By addressing the extreme chemical diversity of food-medicine plants, this study provides a standardised solution for ensuring the safety and international trade compliance of TCMs in the global functional food market.

This study aimed to determine the prevalence of phosphorus (P)-based additives in processed foods and beverages in the Turkish market and evaluate how these components are declared on ingredient labels. Ingredient lists of 3,293 products across 16 food categories from eight major retail chains and one online market operating across Türkiye were systematically screened for phosphorus-based additives between January and April 2025. Data collected included food category, additive type (E number/name), total additive count, and declaration methods of phosphorus-based additives. P-based additives were identified in 58.3% of products. The highest prevalence was observed in cereal products (91.4%), ice creams (82.5%), and coffee and chocolate drinks (79.6%). Fourteen different P-based additives were detected, with lecithin (E 322, 39.9%), phosphate-containing modified starches (20.5%), and diphosphates (E 450, 18.8%) being the most common. Riboflavin-5'-phosphate was frequently found in snacks, while ammonium phosphatide was prominent in confectionery, cereal products, and ice creams. Declaration by name only (35.8%) was nearly twice as common as declaration by E number (18.2%). The prevalence of P-based additives in processed foods in Türkiye exceeds global averages. The widespread presence of highly bioavailable inorganic phosphates and 'hidden' sources such as modified starch and lecithin, combined with complex labelling practices, may pose risks, particularly for individuals with renal disease. Improved labelling policies are warranted to support public health.

Dietary exposure to pesticide residues is a critical public health concern for high-consumption vegetables like eggplant (Solanum melongena L.). This study evaluated the dissipation kinetics and multi-tiered dietary risks of five insecticides (chlorantraniliprole, chlorfluazuron, chromafenozide, etofenprox, and etoxazole) in greenhouse-grown eggplant. Using a validated LC-MS/MS method, initial deposits (0.05-0.24 mg kg[-1]) decreased to 0.01-0.05 mg kg[-1] at harvest (7 days after treatment), remaining below Korean maximum residue limits (MRLs). First-order dissipation half-lives ranged from 2.2 to 5.7 days. Risk assessment involved three approaches: (1) theoretical maximum daily intake (TMDI) across six jurisdictions (Korea, EU, USA, China, India, and Japan) was <1% of the acceptable daily intake (ADI); (2) exposure modelling using supervised trial median residues (STMR) yielded estimated daily intakes <0.01% of the ADI for international and domestic populations; and (3) age-stratified analysis showed hazard quotients <0.01%, with elderly consumers (≥65 years) exhibiting the highest exposure due to greater consumption. These findings provide a scientific basis for establishing pre-harvest intervals and offer an integrated framework for international MRL harmonisation and trade risk evaluation.

Blueberries are susceptible to fungal infection that may lead to mycotoxin contamination. Accurate identification of mycotoxin-producing fungi in blueberries is critical, as processed products derived from mould-contaminated fruits pose significant health risks due to the persistence of mycotoxins. However, classifying fungal diseases in blueberries remains challenging because infections beneath the dark-coloured epidermis are often visually undetectable. Near-infra-red (NIR) spectroscopy presents a promising alternative, as it exhibits distinct absorption characteristics for different fungal pathogens and enables non-contact measurement. This study investigates the use of NIR spectra to classify diseases caused by three mycotoxin-producing fungi: Alternaria alternata, Fusarium fujikuroi, and Penicillium expansum. Blueberry samples were individually inoculated with one of these pathogens or maintained as non-inoculated controls. NIR spectra collected from fruits across two independent harvests were analysed 1-6 days post-inoculation. To address the classification challenge with limited data, this study proposes an enhanced prototypical network to classify blueberry fungal infections, training on the first harvest and validating on the second harvest. A customised convolutional neural network with spatial attention improves feature extraction, while data normalisation and MetaMix augmentation enhance model performance. Through stratified cross-validation, the five-class classifier with 18-shot prototypes achieved an average accuracy of 97.9%, sensitivity of 97.9%, specificity of 99.5%, precision of 98.1% and F1-score of 97.9%. These findings highlight the potential of NIR spectroscopy combined with prototype-based learning for early detection of mycotoxin risks in blueberries.

Honey is commonly used as a bio-indicator of environmental contamination; however, the contribution of polymer-derived additives from food-contact materials remains poorly characterised. This study investigated 38 honey samples originating from European countries, predominantly from the Czech Republic, including both local beekeeper-produced and retail honey samples. Pesticide residues were detected only sporadically, whereas polymer-derived additives were ubiquitous. High-molecular-weight phthalates were present in 31 of 32 beekeeper samples (median 174.2 ng/g), and low-molecular-weight phthalates in 28 samples (median 141.1 ng/g). Non-phthalate plasticisers, UV stabilisers, photoinitiator-related compounds and degradation products of polymer antioxidants were also frequently detected. In addition to commonly monitored additives, several less frequently reported compounds were identified, including benzophenone, an oxaspiro-type antioxidant degradation product, and a bisphenol A transformation product, indicating complex material-associated contamination profiles beyond routinely targeted analytes. Contamination index analysis indicated a dominant contribution of material-associated compounds, while pesticide-derived contamination remained low. Observed patterns suggest two partially distinct pathways: environmentally-derived inputs linked to landscape exposure, and material-associated inputs related to processing, storage and food-contact materials. The frequent occurrence of lipophilic additives further suggests that beeswax may act as a reservoir facilitating transfer into honey. These findings highlight honey as a valuable indicator matrix for assessing the occurrence of polymer-derived contaminants associated with modern food-contact materials and anthropogenic chemical pressure.

In the current work, a sample pre-treatment method based on magnetic dispersive solid phase extraction was developed and validated for the extraction of fluoroquinolone antibiotics from raw cow milk samples before their quantification with HPLC with a diode array detector. A magnetised carbonised cellulose filter paper was synthesised easily and employed as an efficient sorbent in the extraction process. In the proposed method, after precipitating the milk proteins using trichloroacetic acid solution, the magnetic particles were dispersed throughout the pH-adjusted sample solution by vortex agitation. After removing the liquid phase in the presence of an external magnet, the sorbent particles were eluted with acetonitrile along with vortex agitation to desorb the analytes. The liquid phase was put into a vial and evaporated to dryness. The residue was dissolved in the mobile phase, and an aliquot was injected into the analytical instrument for quantitative analysis. Under the optimum conditions, acceptable extraction recoveries (67-76%), low limits of detection (0.21-0.32 ng mL[-1]) and quantification (0.70-1.07 ng mL[-1]), and good precision (relative standard deviation ≤ 6.5%) were attained. After optimising and validating the proposed method, it was performed on thirty different raw cow milk samples; none of the antibiotics were detected.

Goat meat (chevon) is widely consumed in developing countries, where consumer preference strongly favours freshly slaughtered meat. However, the illegal sale and misrepresentation of meat from animals that die prior to slaughter pose significant concerns for food safety, quality, and ethical compliance. Despite this, no standardised analytical approach exists for differentiating properly slaughtered goat meat (SGM) from meat originating from dead goat meat (DGM). The present study aimed systematically to differentiate SGM and DGM at 1, 8, 16, and 24 h post-slaughter/death using physico-chemical, microbiological, proximate, and mineral parameters. Results revealed that DGM exhibited significantly (p < 0.05) higher cooking loss, myoglobin content, and microbial load, whereas pH, water holding capacity, and extract release volume were significantly lower compared to SGM. Proximate composition showed no significant differences between the two groups. Temporal analysis indicated a decline over time in pH, water holding capacity, extract release volume, and proximate components, alongside an increase in cooking loss and microbial counts. Elevated iron and manganese levels in DGM further reflected higher residual blood content due to inadequate bleeding. These findings demonstrate distinct physico-chemical and microbiological signatures that can effectively differentiate SGM and DGM. This study represents the first comprehensive report on goat meat differentiation and provides a scientific basis for developing rapid analytical tools to detect meat fraud and ensure food authenticity.

Specific migration of volatile and semi-volatile organic compounds (VOCs/SVOCs) from untreated light wood packaging from maritime pine (Pinus pinaster) and poplar (Populus sp.) into the dry food simulant Tenax[®] was investigated by thermal desorption coupled to GC/MS (TD-GC/MS). Direct and indirect contact modes were tested for sapwood and heartwood of dry and wet wood at 4-40 °C for 24 h and 10 days. More than 140 VOCs were identified across all conditions combined. Poplar exhibited an aldehyde-dominated profile, whereas pine showed a terpene-dominated profile. Direct contact resulted in approximately twice as many identified compounds as indirect contact. Moisture induced a qualitative diversification of the poplar VOC profile and significantly reduced migration levels. Seven representative compounds were quantified and assessed using the Threshold of Toxicological Concern (TTC) approach with Cramer classification. Once migration was expressed on a contact-area basis, first-tier TTC screening indicated exposures below the Cramer-class thresholds for all seven compounds, although the margins were narrow for some compounds (e.g. 2-pentylfuran). This first-tier screening does not cover substances bearing a structural alert for genotoxicity, for which a lower threshold of 0.15 µg/person/day applies; a complete safety assessment therefore requires confirmation that the analytical method is sufficiently sensitive at that level. These findings provide a scientific basis for risk assessment and support the development of a dedicated regulatory framework for wood as a food contact material.