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Exposure Assessment of Acetamide in Milk, Beef, and Coffee Using Xanthydrol Derivatization and Gas Chromatography/Mass Spectrometry.

Ramin VismehDiane HaddadJanette MooreChandra NielsonBryan BalsTim CampbellAllen JulianFarzaneh TeymouriArthur Daniel JonesVenkataraman Bringi
Published in: Journal of agricultural and food chemistry (2017)
Acetamide has been classified as a possible human carcinogen, but uncertainties exist about its levels in foods. This report presents evidence that thermal decomposition of N-acetylated sugars and amino acids in heated gas chromatograph injectors contributes to artifactual acetamide in milk and beef. An alternative gas chromatography/mass spectrometry protocol based on derivatization of acetamide with 9-xanthydrol was optimized and shown to be free of artifactual acetamide formation. The protocol was validated using a surrogate analyte approach based on d3-acetamide and applied to analyze 23 pasteurized whole milk, 44 raw sirloin beef, and raw milk samples from 14 different cows, and yielded levels about 10-fold lower than those obtained by direct injection without derivatization. The xanthydrol derivatization procedure detected acetamide in every food sample tested at 390 ± 60 ppb in milk, 400 ± 80 ppb in beef, and 39 000 ± 9000 ppb in roasted coffee beans.
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