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Foods
Special Issues
Hazardous Substances in Food Products: Detection, Degradation and Exposure Assessment
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Hazardous Substances in Food Products: Detection, Degradation and Exposure Assessment

A special issue of Foods (ISSN 2304-8158). This special issue belongs to the section "Food Toxicology".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 31 October 2025 | Viewed by 990

Special Issue Editor

Dr. Yuliang Cheng

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
State Key Laboratory of Food Science and Technology, School of Food Science and Technology, Jiangnan University, Wuxi 214122, China
Interests: grain drinks; fermentation; nutritional evaluation; nutrition intervention; food hazard analysis
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Hazardous substances in food products usually include physical, chemical, and biological components, threatening consumers' health. These substances may originate from raw materials, be generated during processing, or artificially supplemented. One of the fundamental goals of food science is to ensure the quality and safety of food products. Advanced techniques and instruments make it possible to detect, degrade, and assess the exposure of harmful substances efficiently. Therefore, there are developing focal points on identifying hazardous substances using faster and visually orientated methods, the biodegradation of potential hazards with significant value-added, and the improved rational and scientific approach to exposure assessment. More studies are encouraged for rapid detection/assessment of hazardous substances in food (e.g., rapid viable sensors, smart packaging, nondestructive testing, etc.) and green degradation of ingredients with high utilization (e.g., biodegradation, high value addition, etc.).

Dr. Yuliang Cheng
Guest Editor

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Foods is an international peer-reviewed open access semimonthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2900 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • food safety
  • hazardous substances
  • rapid detection
  • biodegradation
  • exposure assessment

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Published Papers (3 papers)

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Research

15 pages, 3401 KiB  
Article
High-Throughput Determination of Multiclass Chemical Hazards in Poultry Muscles and Eggs Using UPLC–MS/MS
by Rong Chen, Lan Chen, Mingyue Du, Qiaozhen Guo, Ciping Zhong, Jing Zhang and Xiaoqin Yu
Foods 2025, 14(10), 1660; https://doi.org/10.3390/foods14101660 - 8 May 2025
Viewed by 200
Abstract
A high-throughput method for the determination of a variety of chemical hazards in poultry muscle and egg samples was established via ultra-performance liquid chromatography–tandem triple quadrupole mass spectrometry (UPLC–QqQ-MS). The sample preparation procedure was developed based on this quick, easy, cheap, effective, rugged, [...] Read more.
A high-throughput method for the determination of a variety of chemical hazards in poultry muscle and egg samples was established via ultra-performance liquid chromatography–tandem triple quadrupole mass spectrometry (UPLC–QqQ-MS). The sample preparation procedure was developed based on this quick, easy, cheap, effective, rugged, and safe (QuEChERS) method and validated for 280 chemical hazards potentially present in poultry products. The target compounds in poultry samples were extracted with a 1% formic acid–acetonitrile solution (15:85, v/v), and the metal ions in the matrix were chelated by adding ethylenediaminetetraacetic acid disodium salt (Na2EDTA). The supernatant was purified using Enhanced Matrix Removal (EMR) lipid sorbent. Chromatographic gradient separation was performed on an ACQUITY UPLC BEH C18 (2.1 mm × 100 mm, 1.7 μm) column with multiple reaction monitoring (MRM) under both negative- and positive-ion mode. Internal standard calibration or matrix-matched calibration was used for the quantitation. The results showed that good linearity was achieved for each target compound with correlation coefficients (R2) ≥ 0.99. The limits of detection (LODs) ranged from 0.05 to 10 µg/kg, and the acceptable limits of quantification (LOQs) were determined to be 0.1–20 µg/kg for all 280 compounds. Approximately 90% of the target compounds exhibited mean recoveries ranging from 60% to 120%, with relative standard deviations (RSDs) within 16.2%. This method can be used for the high-throughput rapid detection of prohibited drug residues in poultry eggs due to its easy operation and high accuracy. It was applied in real sample detection, and 43 chemicals including metronidazole were found in 211 poultry samples, with a concentration range of 0.11–638 μg/kg. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Hazardous Substances in Food Products: Detection, Degradation and Exposure Assessment)
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14 pages, 257 KiB  
Article
Assessment of Microbial and Heavy Metal Contamination of Natural Sheep Casings from Different Geographic Regions
by Beata Wysok, Adam Dymkowski, Marta Sołtysiuk and Aleksandra Kobuszewska
Foods 2025, 14(9), 1520; https://doi.org/10.3390/foods14091520 - 26 Apr 2025
Viewed by 177
Abstract
Natural casings are integral components in the production of various meat products, including sausages, and their quality and safety have to be controlled to eliminate any risks to consumers’ health. A total of 35 samples of salted natural sheep casings from Turkey, Iran, [...] Read more.
Natural casings are integral components in the production of various meat products, including sausages, and their quality and safety have to be controlled to eliminate any risks to consumers’ health. A total of 35 samples of salted natural sheep casings from Turkey, Iran, China, Mongolia, Pakistan, New Zealand, the United Kingdom, and Belgium were tested for microbial contamination and the concentrations of potentially toxic heavy metals. The mean log values of microbial counts were determined at 3.45 ± 0.44 log CFU/g for aerobic mesophilic bacteria, 0.5 ± 0.43 log CFU/g for anaerobic sulfide-reducing bacteria, and 1.24 ± 0.63 log CFU/g for coagulase-positive staphylococci. Typical or suspected colonies of Salmonella spp., E. coli, and Listeria spp. were not identified on selective and differential agar. The examined casings were contaminated mainly with lead (0.077 ± 0.045 mg/kg), followed by arsenic (0.036 ± 0.029 mg/kg) and cadmium (0.009 ± 0.008 mg/kg). The concentrations of mercury in all samples were below the limit of quantification. The study demonstrated that the quality and safety of natural casings were not affected by their region of origin and that microbial contamination was not correlated with heavy metal concentrations. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Hazardous Substances in Food Products: Detection, Degradation and Exposure Assessment)
14 pages, 2902 KiB  
Article
In Vitro Digestion Patterns of Advanced Glycation End Products and α-Dicarbonyls in Biscuits and the Modulatory Effects of Ferulic Acid and Epicatechin
by Xiaoxiang Peng, Huiyu Hu, Yuwei Liu, Jia Li, Yilun Huang, Haiwa Wang, Ziyi Wang and Yuting Wang
Foods 2025, 14(8), 1429; https://doi.org/10.3390/foods14081429 - 21 Apr 2025
Viewed by 226
Abstract
The dietary intake amount of processing contaminants does not reflect their actual exposure risk due to interactions with the food matrix during gastrointestinal processes, which significantly modulate their bioaccessibility. This study systematically investigated the in vitro digestion patterns of advanced glycation end products [...] Read more.
The dietary intake amount of processing contaminants does not reflect their actual exposure risk due to interactions with the food matrix during gastrointestinal processes, which significantly modulate their bioaccessibility. This study systematically investigated the in vitro digestion patterns of advanced glycation end products (AGEs) and α-dicarbonyl compounds (α-DCs) in biscuits and the modulatory effects of ferulic acid and epicatechin. The results demonstrated that more than 80% of AGEs and α-DCs were present in the bioaccessible fraction of the samples after intestinal digestion. Ferulic acid (FA, 0.05%, w/w) significantly increased the AGEs content in the bioaccessible fraction after intestinal digestion compared to control samples. Conversely, FA at 0.2% and 0.5%, as well as epicatechin (EC) at 0.05%, significantly reduced the glyoxal and 3-deoxyglucosone levels during oral digestion and significantly increased these contaminants contents after gastric digestion. The higher the concentration of EC, the lower the level of methylglyoxal during oral and gastric digestion. In addition, we identified the adducts of FA with lysine and the adducts of EC with Nε-Carboxymethyl-lysine using LC-QTOF-MS, demonstrating the reactivity between polyphenols, amino acids and contaminants. This study provides guidance and suggestions for mitigating dietary exposure to AGEs and α-DCs. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Hazardous Substances in Food Products: Detection, Degradation and Exposure Assessment)
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