Analysis of Chemical Contaminants in Food

Dear Colleagues,

The presence of contaminants in foods is a topic of concern both in science and popular culture. A growing attention is devoted to main and side effects of foodstuffs from the nutritional and dietary point of view, but furthermore toxicology and epidemiology research show new cases of correlation between food contaminants and development of pathologies. The undesirable contaminant compounds may have a different origin: They may be degradation products of food components (natural or anthropogenic), environmental pollutants or substances deriving from technological processes. Many of the components of the food that seem indifferent at first glance can reveal to be harmful by deeper investigation.

The recognized classes of undesirable food contaminants based on their origin can be summarized as: i) endogenous toxins, which are natural food components, ii) microbial toxins produced by molds or bacteria, iii) toxic residues carried over into food from procedures applied to living animals and plants, and iv) toxic contaminants originating from technological operations such as packaging, food processing, preservation and cooking.

The availability of analytical techniques of increasing selectivity and sensitivity has boosted the ability to detect traces of food contaminants in a more and more accurate and reproducible way. The development of molecular screening techniques such as -omics continuously raises the list of molecules with toxicological properties. Knowledge about acute toxicity, chronic toxicity (e.g. carcinogenicity, endocrine-disrupting effects, etc.) or subjective toxicity (as in the case of allergens) is crucial both for overall human health and in the development of personalized medicine.

The broad extension of this issue should be focused on the development and application of analytical technologies for the targeted and non-targeted detection of food contaminants. Particular attention should be paid to the correlation of their levels in food with toxicological risk and with the onset of diseases. Food chemical safety control methods have to involve both small molecules and macromolecules analytical determination; matrix effects should be studied in detail.

Prof. Claudio Medana
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 250 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for assessment.

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. Toxics is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly 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 2600 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.