BOOK OF ABSTRACTS - 8th International Symposium on RECENT ADVANCES IN FOOD ANALYSIS (RAFA)

Significance of the Topic

The 8th International Symposium on Recent Advances in Food Analysis brought together leading experts to address critical challenges in food safety, authenticity, and quality control. Over 200 scientific contributions—vendor seminars, lectures, and interactive sessions—highlighted cutting-edge analytical strategies for contaminant detection, allergen testing, food fraud prevention, and emerging contaminants, all essential for protecting public health and ensuring consumer trust.

Objectives and Overview of Proceedings

The symposium aimed to:

• Share advances in chromatographic and mass-spectrometric methods (LC-MS/MS, GC-TOF, GC-Orbitrap, GC×GC) for multi-residue screening of pesticides, mycotoxins, veterinary drugs, and packaging migrants.
• Demonstrate novel sample-preparation techniques (QuEChERS, immunoaffinity, automated on-line SPE, microextraction, enzymatic hydrolysis) that improve throughput and sensitivity.
• Explore non-targeted and targeted workflows, including ion mobility, high-resolution metabolomics, lipidomics, and LC-NMR, for foodomics, authentication, and biomarker discovery.
• Discuss instrumentation innovations—ambient MS (REIMS, DART), handheld spectroscopy (Raman, NIR), biosensors, lab-on-a-disc—that enable rapid, on-site analysis.
• Review regulatory and reference-laboratory activities (EURLs) in the EU and internationally for harmonized methods, proficiency testing, and quality assurance.

Methodologies and Instrumentation

Key techniques presented encompassed multi-class LC-MS/MS for >1,000 analytes; HRMS with full-scan and bbCID for suspect screening; GC-Orbitrap and GC-HRTOF for persistent organics; SFC for lipophilic toxins; ion mobility for isomer separation; UHPLC-FLD and SFC-APPI for specific contaminants; and vibrational spectroscopy and hyperspectral imaging for rapid fingerprinting. Emphasis was placed on overcoming matrix effects, enhancing robustness, and automating workflows.

Key Findings and Discussion

Highlights included robust quantitation of chloropropanediol and glycidyl esters in oils; high-throughput pesticide screening in produce and cannabis; non-targeted metabolomic fingerprinting for authenticity of olive oils, coffee, berries, honey, and animal products; detection of emerging PFAS and process contaminants in water and food contact materials; and novel biomonitoring methods for mycotoxin and pesticide exposure in humans and livestock.

Benefits and Practical Applications

These advances offer food laboratories:

• Greater analytical coverage with reduced analysis time and costs.
• Enhanced sensitivity for trace-level contaminants.
• Rapid on-site and non-destructive screening options.
• Reliable data for regulatory compliance and risk assessment.
• Tools for safeguarding against food fraud and ensuring supply-chain transparency.

Future Trends and Prospective Uses

Moving forward, food analysis will integrate multi-omics (proteomics, lipidomics, metabolomics), big-data chemometrics, and machine learning for comprehensive food profiling. Miniaturized, portable devices and ambient MS will expand field testing. Harmonized global reference standards and collaborative EURL initiatives will drive method standardization and data comparability. Personalized food‐exposure assessments and real‐time process monitoring are emerging frontiers.

Conclusion

The symposium underscored the pivotal role of innovative analytical science in addressing complex food safety, authenticity, and quality challenges. Through multidisciplinary collaboration, new technologies and workflows are translating into more effective controls, protecting health, and supporting sustainable food systems.

References

European Commission (2017) Regulation (EU) 2017/644 on analytical methods for dioxins and PCBs in food.
Charoud‐Got J. et al. (2016) LC-MS/MS screening of >1,000 contaminants in food and feed. J. Chromatogr. A. 1457:12–25.