The draft of the EFSA opinion on mineral oil hydrocarbons in food [1] states several gaps in the characterisation of the type of mineral oil contamination in foods in order to assess the risk for the consumer more precisely. In the draft opinion, concrete recommendations are stated ([1] page 98). Among other, more data on the characterisation of the MOAH according to number of aromatic rings in food is needed. Further, there are still big uncertainties whether and how the degree of alkylation of MOAH influences genotoxicity and carcinogenicity.
Within this project, the current GC×GC method is to be extended to include the quantification of MOAH by degree of alkylation. This allows to completely characterise MOAH (quantification of MOAH by number of aromatic rings and by degree of alkylation). The main part of the project consists in the screening of a large number of different foods that are particularly at risk for high MOAH contamination. MOAH-contaminated samples are further analysed for complete characterisation of MOAH.
