Abstract
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration’s (FDA′s) Center for Veterinary Medicine (CVM) has been investigating reports of pets becoming ill after consuming jerky pet treats since 2007. Renal failure accounted for 30% of reported cases. Jerky pet treats contain glycerin, which can be made from vegetable oil or as a byproduct of biodiesel production. Glycidyl esters (GEs) and 3-monochloropropanediol esters (3-MCPDEs) are food contaminants that can form in glycerin during the refining process. 3-MCPDEs and GEs pose food safety concerns, as they can release free 3-MCPD and glycidol in vivo. Evidence from studies in animals shows that 3-MCPDEs are potential toxins with kidneys as their main target. As renal failure accounted for 30% of reported pet illnesses after the consumption of jerky pet treats containing glycerin, there is a need to develop a screening method to detect 3-MCPDEs and GEs in glycerin. We describe the development of an ultra-high-pressure liquid chromatography/quadrupole time-of-flight (UHPLC/Q-TOF) method for screening glycerin for MCPDEs and GEs. Glycerin was extracted and directly analyzed without a solid-phase extraction procedure. An exact mass database, developed in-house, of MCPDEs and GEs formed with common fatty acids was used in the screening.
Highlights
Due to the potential renal toxicity of MCPDEs, which are derived from MCPD, and the carcinogenicity of glycidol derived from Glycidyl esters (GEs), we focused our method development efforts to screen glycerin for MCPDEs and GEs
The crude glycerin is subjected to an expensive refining process that includes treatments such as bleaching, deodorizing, and ion exchange
We accomplished our goal in this study by successfully developing a UHPLC/QTOF-based screening method to detect a variety of GEs and MCPDEs in glycerin samples
Summary
Renal failure accounted for 30% of reported cases. As renal failure accounted for 30% of reported pet illnesses after the consumption of jerky pet treats containing glycerin, there is a need to develop a screening method to detect 3-MCPDEs and GEs in glycerin. In the late summer of 2007, the FDA became aware of reports of illness in dogs after consuming jerky pet treats (JPTs) [1,2]. Renal dysfunction or failure accounted for 30% of the reported cases, with a smaller subset reporting Fanconi syndrome, a dysfunction of the proximal renal tubules of the kidney in which glucose, amino acids, uric acid, phosphate, and bicarbonate are passed into the urine instead of being reabsorbed [3].
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