LC-MS/MS Analysis of Emerging Food Contaminants

Recent findings (in February 2015) of allergens in spices caused the recall of many food products in North America and Europe. The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) advised people who are highly allergic to peanuts to consider avoiding products that contain ground cumin or cumin powder, because some shipments of these products have tested positive for undeclared peanut protein. This application note presents a method to detect the presence of peanut and almond in spices. Samples were extracted and then the allergenic proteins were reduced, alkylated and digested using trypsin. The extract containing peptides from the digested proteins were filtered and analyzed by LC-MS/MS using a reverse phase chromatography and positive polarity electrospray ionization (ESI).