Fluorochemical-treated paper was tested to determine the amount of migration that occurs into foods and food-simulating liquids and the characteristics of the migration. Migration characteristics of fluorochemicals from paper were examined in Miglyol, butter, water, vinegar, water-ethanol solutions, emulsions and pure oil containing small amounts of emulsifiers. Additionally, microwave popcorn and chocolate spread were used to investigate migration. Results indicate that fluorochemicals paper additives do migrate to food during actual package use. For example, we found that microwave popcorn contained 3.2 fluorochemical mg kg(-1) popcorn after popping and butter contained 0.1 mg kg(-1) after 40 days at 4 degrees C. Tests also indicate that common food-simulating liquids for migration testing and package material evaluation might not provide an accurate indication of the amount of fluorochemical that actually migrates to food. Tests show that oil containing small amounts of an emulsifier can significantly enhance migration of a fluorochemical from paper.

Fatty acid esters of 3-monochloropropanediol (3-MCPD) and glycidol are processing contaminants found in a wide range of edible oils. While both 3 MCPD and glycidol have toxicological properties that at present has concerns for food safety, the published occurrence data are limited. Occurrence information is presented for the concentrations of 3-MCPD and glycidyl esters in 116 retail and/or industrial edible oils and fats using LC-MS/MS analysis of intact esters. The concentrations for bound 3-MCPD ranged from below the limit of quantitation (

Pine nuts are a part of traditional cooking in many parts of the world and have seen a significant increase in availability/use in the United States over the past 10 years. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (US FDA) field offices received 411 complaints from U.S. consumers over the past three years regarding taste disturbances following the consumption of pine nuts. Using analysis of fatty acids by gas chromatography with flame ionization detection, previous reports have implicated nuts from Pinus armandii (Armand Pine) as the causative species for similar taste disturbances. This method was found to provide insufficient species resolution to link FDA consumer complaint samples to a single species of pine, particularly when samples contained species mixtures of pine nuts. Here we describe a DNA based method for differentiating pine nut samples using the ycf1 chloroplast gene. Although the exact cause of pine nut associated dysgeusia is still not known, we found that 15 of 15 samples from consumer complaints contained at least some Pinus armandii, confirming the apparent association of this species with taste disturbances.