Thermo Fisher Scientific LC-MS/MS Solution Used to Detect Melamine

Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. today announced the availability of a method to detect melamine and cyanuric acid in food matrices. The method uses Thermo Scientific instrumentation for liquid chromatography coupled with tandem mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS) systems, and is published in the U.S. FDA’s Laboratory Information Bulletin No. 4396, May 2007. Melamine is an industrial chemical used in the manufacturing of plastics, flame retardants and other products. Recent news coverage about the presence of melamine in infant formula, cookies and candy has once again raised public concern about the chemical in the food supply chain for both animals and humans. This latest finding comes roughly one year after the announced presence of melamine and cyanuric acid in pet food.

The LC-MS/MS method utilizes the Thermo Scientific TSQ Quantum^™ triple quadrupole mass spectrometer coupled to a Thermo Scientific Surveyor^™ MS pump and autosampler. Thermo Scientific Xcalibur^™ data system software was used to acquire and analyze the data.

Thermo Fisher Scientific has also published a related application note (Thermo Scientific Application Note 424 – May 2008), “Analysis of Melamine and Cyanuric Acid in Food Matrices by LC-MS/MS.” This application was developed on the TSQ Quantum Ultra in collaboration with the National Center for Food Safety and Technology at the Illinois Institute of Technology, Chicago, Illinois. Currently this method is being used as a reference by the labs under Administration of Quality Supervision, Inspection and Quarantine (AQSIQ) in China to develop an LC-MS/MS method using TSQ Quantum systems for the detection of melamine in milk and infant formula.

The Thermo Scientific TSQ Quantum triple quadrupole system is the only instrument that enables highly-selective reaction monitoring (H-SRM), which facilitates the quick and efficient analysis of complex samples such as food matrices and animal tissue. Additionally, the Thermo Scientific solution, when coupled to TurboFlow technology, has the advantage of providing a total solution from on-line sample preparation to data analysis, saving scientists and regulatory agencies valuable time.