Determination of sucralose in foods by liquid chromatography/tandem mass spectrometry

Abstract

A simple method for the determination of sucralose in various foods using liquid chromatography-electrospray ionization tandem mass spectrometry (LC/MS/MS) was developed. Sucralose was extracted with water or methanol, and the extract was cleaned up on a C18 cartridge, and diluted with water for injection into the LC/MS/MS. The LC separation was performed with a reversed-phase gradient on an ODS column, and the mass spectral acquisition was done in the negative ion mode by applying selected reaction monitoring (SRM). The recoveries of sucralose from various kinds of foods fortified at 100 micrograms/g and 5 micrograms/g were 88.1-96.7% and 92.7-98.5%, respectively. The lower limits of quantification were 0.5 microgram/g in beverage, low-malt beer, yogurt and chocolate and 2.5 micrograms/g in other foods. Forty-three commercial foods containing sucralose were analyzed by this method. Sucralose was detected in all samples at levels of 3.8-481 micrograms/g.