Mineral oil polyaromatic hydrocarbons in foods, eg from jute bags, by on-line LC-solvent evaporation (SE)-LC-GC-FID

On-line and automated LC-SE-LC-GC-FID was used for the analysis of polyaromatic hydrocarbons in foods contaminated with mineral oil products. The detection limit for a fraction was around 1 mg/kg. Batching oil from jute bags introduces two-ring and three-ring aromatic compounds into foods (shown for rice), and environmental contamination of fish introduces primarily two-ring compounds. For other foods containing mineral oil material from unknown sources, the analysis provided important information about the type of oil involved (shown for a sample of linseed oil, a safflower oil and a chocolate).