PerkinElmer Introduces Analyzer for Determination of Melamine in Food By GC/MS

PerkinElmer Life and Analytical Sciences, a global leader in application-focused measurement and analysis solutions, today announced a complete analyzer using gas chromatography/mass spectrometry (GC/MS) for the determination of melamine adulteration in protein-based foods. PerkinElmer’s Melamine Analyzer includes all instrumentation, consumables and applications resources needed to screen for melamine contamination.

“With this system, laboratories can be confident that the analysis they are running is accurate and conforms with the most recent guideline from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for screening of wheat gluten, rice protein, corn gluten and soy protein,” said Eric Ziegler, Vice President of Chromatography for PerkinElmer Life and Analytical Sciences. “We were thrilled to put our deep expertise to work on a complete solution for the analysis of melamine adulteration. It’s an example of the kind of application-focused solutions customers will be seeing more of from PerkinElmer to help enable scientists to improve and protect our world.”

The method for the Melamine Analyzer was developed in collaboration with Flora Research Laboratories, an FDA and DEA-registered independent testing laboratory specialized in natural products. Ziegler noted that PerkinElmer is the first analytical solutions provider to offer a system to analyze melamine using GC/MS technology.

Melamine is a nitrogen-rich industrial chemical that became well-known in North America recently after its presence in wheat gluten was linked with renal failure in dogs and cats. The U.S. FDA quickly issued a standard test method for the analysis of melamine in protein materials using GC/MS. The Melamine Analyzer includes a Clarus^® 600 T GC/MS with autosampler and TurboMass™ GC/MS software, all consumables needed for analysis and an application CD for rapid ramp-up. The application CD includes methods and sample data, a library of spectra of derivatized compounds of melamine and related compounds, a melamine application guidebook and an application note that describes the analytical method in detail.

Due to the high financial and health risks posed by the presence of melamine, many data quality checks (QC) are necessary to confirm results. In addition to high and low-level standards, the QC needed for this method includes a solvent blank, analysis of pyridine solvent and derivatization reagent, a method blank, un-spiked solvent carried through the extraction process and a matrix-spike sample at both the low and high levels.

Although the U.S. FDA method is pass/fail, PerkinElmer’s Clarus 600 GC/MS provides the sensitivity to achieve a semi-quantitative result for added confidence.