Shimadzu’s Total Support for Food Safety

Importance of the Topic

The safety of food along the entire supply chain—from agricultural production through processing to retail—is critical to protecting public health. Advances in analytical chemistry offer the tools needed to detect contaminants, additives, and foreign matter at trace levels, ensuring compliance with regulatory limits and consumer trust.

Aims and Overview of the Article

This article reviews Shimadzu’s comprehensive portfolio of analytical and testing instruments for food safety. It illustrates how various technologies are applied to identify chemical residues, microbial hazards, processing by-products, allergens, and packaging defects, supported by dedicated software and databases.

Methodology and Instrumentation Used

Analytical approaches described include:

• Chromatography coupled with mass spectrometry (GC-MS/MS, LC-MS/MS) for multi-residue pesticide, veterinary drug, mycotoxin, and flavor compound screening
• High-performance liquid chromatography with fluorescence, UV-VIS, and photodiode array detectors for aflatoxins, preservatives, sweeteners, and adulterants
• MALDI-TOF mass spectrometry for rapid microorganism identification
• Atomic absorption and ICP emission spectrometry for toxic metal quantitation
• Energy-dispersive X-ray fluorescence and FTIR microscopy for foreign matter analysis
• Universal testing machines for packaging seal strength and food texture evaluation
• LC-GC online systems targeting MOSH/MOAH in packaging
• Targeted LC-MS/MS peptide analysis for halal authentication
• Network-based data management system (LabSolutions CS) for instrument control, data integration, and workflow efficiency

Main Results and Discussion

Shimadzu instruments achieve rapid, sensitive, and simultaneous detection of hundreds of analytes. Key highlights include:

• Simultaneous analysis of 646 pesticides by LC-MS/MS in 10.5 minutes with low RSD
• GC-MS/MS screening of 439 pesticides using Smart MRM workflows
• Rapid 4-minute LC separation of aflatoxins without derivatization
• High‐throughput LC-MS/MS quantitation of 89 veterinary drugs and 25 mycotoxins
• Two-minute MALDI-TOF identification of bacteria and fungi
• Sub-ppb detection of arsenic, cadmium, and lead in food matrices
• Simultaneous LC-MS/MS determination of 16 sweeteners and 19 volatiles in under six minutes
• Detection of processing contaminants (acrylamide) at low ppb levels
• Multi-peptide MRM profiling for allergen detection across eight regulated foods
• Off-flavor screening database identifying 2,4,6-trichloroanisole in defective samples

Benefits and Practical Applications

• High analytical throughput with reduced sample preparation steps
• Comprehensive method packages compliant with international regulations
• User-friendly software automating method development and data review
• Integrated workflows link instrument data for laboratory efficiency
• Flexibility to customize databases, transitions, and analytical conditions

Future Trends and Applications

Emerging demands in food safety include multi-omics, real-time process monitoring, non-targeted screening, and AI-driven data interpretation. Integration of high-resolution MS, advanced chemometrics, and cloud-based platforms will further enhance traceability, predictive risk assessment, and global food integrity.

Conclusion

Shimadzu’s total support strategy combines versatile instrumentation, validated method packages, and software solutions to address the diverse analytical challenges in food safety. Continuous innovation ensures laboratories can meet evolving regulatory requirements and maintain public confidence.

References

Method packages, application notes, and validation studies cited are drawn from Shimadzu’s internal technical literature, including Application News (C106, C136, C161), Application Data Sheets (GCMS No. 32), and AOAC/IUPAC presentations.