More than 7000 synthetic compounds known as per- and poly-fluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) are applied to food packaging and other materials to provide fat, fire, and/or water resistance properties. These compounds have exceptional environmental stability and persistence due to the strong C-F chemical bond, earning them the moniker “forever chemicals”. Emission of PFAS from industrial waste leads to water, air, and soil contamination. Due to this ubiquitous nature, combined with the fact that PFAS in humans are known to have carcinogenic and reprotoxic effects and to cause vaccine resistance and depression of the immunity system, PFAS may constitute a major threat to human health. For this reason, the attention of the scientific community and of control bodies is increasing and as a consequence legislation and the scientific literature on PFAS are constantly evolving. This review aims to provide a comprehensive overview of the state of the art about current legislation addressing PFAS; targeted and screening method for identification, detection and quantification of PFAS; toxicity of PFAS; and contamination of environmental and food matrices and from food contact matrices. A comprehensive review of the latest scientific research and recent developments in the legislation of PFAS will provide insights into the current understanding of PFAS and its health implications. Moreover, it will serve as a valuable reference for further studies related to PFAS and could help in informing future policy decisions.

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The use of oak barrel alternatives, including oak chips, oak staves and oak powder, is quite common in the production of spirits obtained from the distillation of vegetal fermented products such as grape pomace. This work explored the use of unconventional wood formats such as peeled and sliced wood. The use of poplar wood was also evaluated to verify its technological uses to produce aged spirits. To this aim, GC-MS analyses were carried out to obtain an aromatic characterisation of experimental distillates treated with these products. Moreover, the same spirits were studied for classification purposes using NMR, NIR and e-nose. A significant change in the original composition of grape pomace distillate due to sorption phenomena was observed; the intensity of this effect was greater for poplar wood. The release of aroma compounds from wood depended both on the toasting level and wood assortment. Higher levels of xylovolatiles, namely, whisky lactone, were measured in samples aged using sliced woods. Both the NIR and NMR analyses highlighted similarities among samples refined with oak tablets, differentiating them from the other wood types. Finally, E-nose seemed to be a promising alternative to spectroscopic methods both for the simplicity of sample preparation and method portability.