Occurrence of Mineral Oil Hydrocarbons in Omega-3 Fatty Acid Dietary Supplements.

Alessia Arena,Peter Q Tranchida,Mariosimone Zoccali,Luigi Mondello,Alessandra Trozzi

doi:10.3390/foods10102424

Alessia Arena, Peter Q Tranchida + Show 3 more

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https://doi.org/10.3390/foods10102424

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Abstract

Omega-3 fatty acid dietary supplements have become increasingly popular with consumers due to their multiple health benefits. In this study, the presence of mineral oil hydrocarbons (MOH) was investigated in seventeen commercial samples of such supplements, characterized by different formulations. The analyses were performed using on-line liquid chromatography–gas chromatography (with flame ionization detection), which is considered the most efficient method for the determination of MOH in foodstuffs. Analyte transfer was performed by using the retention gap technique, with partially concurrent solvent evaporation. Various degrees of mineral oil saturated hydrocarbon contamination (from 2.4 ppm to 375.7 ppm) were found, with an average value of 49.9 ppm. Different C-number range contaminations were determined, with the >C25–≤C35 range always found with an average value of 26.9 ppm. All samples resulted free of mineral oil aromatic hydrocarbons, except for two samples in which a contamination was found at the 9.9 and 6.6 ppm levels, respectively.

Highlights

Mineral oil hydrocarbons (MOH) have been defined by the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) as molecules containing from 10 to about 50 carbon atoms, and are divided into two classes: mineral oil saturated (MOSH) and aromatic hydrocarbons (MOAH) [1]
In 2018, Canavar et al carried out research focused on the analysis of MOH in dry foodstuffs packed in recycled paperboard [6]
A MOSH contamination was detected in 142 samples up to 84.8 ppm, and 23 samples were contaminated by MOAH with a concentration of up to 2.2 ppm [7]

Summary

Introduction

Mineral oil hydrocarbons (MOH) have been defined by the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) as molecules containing from 10 to about 50 carbon atoms, and are divided into two classes: mineral oil saturated (MOSH) and aromatic hydrocarbons (MOAH) [1]. The first paper focused on the analysis of MOH contamination in food was published in 1991 [2]. Purcaro et al in 2013 investigated the presence of MOSH in different food samples (rice, icing sugar, pasta, and olive oil), detecting amounts ranging between < limit of quantification (LoQ) and 65.2 ppm [3]. Eleven vegetable oils (four different types) were analyzed by Zoccali et al, with detected amounts of MOSH ranging between 4 (extra virgin olive oil) and 2540 ppm (sunflower oil) and amounts of MOAH ranging between

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