Mold in Foam Pillows and Mattresses: A Novel Cause of Hypersensitivity Pneumonitis.

Hypersensitivity pneumonitis (HP) is an inflammatory and/or fibrotic disease affecting the lung parenchyma and small airways. It typically results from an immune-mediated reaction provoked by an overt or occult inhaled antigen in susceptible individuals. The chronic or fibrotic form of HP has a poor prognosis, especially when no inciting antigen is identified, which occurs in up to 60% of cases. We report two cases of HP associated with exposure to mold in foam pillows and a mattress, which has not previously been reported as a risk factor for HP. Given the high prevalence of foam in pillows and mattresses, mold in foam in bedding may explain many HP cases with a previously unrecognized cause. Early identification and avoidance of foam in bedding may prevent HP progression to end-stage pulmonary fibrosis and death.

Simultaneous authentication of species identity and geographical origin of shrimps: Untargeted metabolomics to recurrent biomarker ions.

Mandatory disclosure of the species identity, production method, and geographical origin are embedded in the regulations and traceability systems, governing international seafood trade. A high-resolution mass spectrometry-based metabolomics approach could simultaneously authenticate the species identity and geographical origin of commercially important shrimps. The highly innovative approach spared the need for multiple testing methods which are in routine use currently. A robust chemometric model, developed using the metabolite fingerprint dataset, could accurately predict the species identity of the shrimp samples. Subsequently, species-specific biomarkers were discovered and a tandem mass spectrometry method for authentication of the species was developed. Two other chemometric models from the metabolomics experiment accurately predicted the geographical origin of king prawns and tiger prawns. The study has shown for the first time that food-metabolomics along with chemometrics can simultaneously check for multiple seafood fraud issues in the global seafood supply-chain.

Rapid detection and specific identification of offals within minced beef samples utilising ambient mass spectrometry.

The morphological transformation of beef tissues after various processing treatments facilitates the addition of cheap offal products. Undetectable to the naked eye, analytical techniques are required to identify such scenarios within minced and processed products. DNA methodologies are ill-equipped to detect adulteration of offal cuts from the same species and vibrational spectroscopic studies, although rapid and non-destructive, have proved inconclusive as to whether the specific adulterant can be identified. For the first time we present a mass spectrometric approach employing an ambient ionisation process to eliminate sample preparation and provide near-instantaneous results. Rapid evaporative ionisation mass spectrometry (REIMS) was used to assess its capabilities of detecting minced beef adulteration with beef brain, heart, kidney, large intestine and liver tissues and chemometric analysis enabled unique or significant markers to be identified. The adulteration levels detected with the REIMS technology when analysing raw adulterated beef burgers were; brain (5%); heart (1-10%); kidney (1-5%); large intestine (1-10%) and liver (5-10%). For boiled adulterated samples; brain (5-10%); heart (1-10%); kidney (1-5%); large intestine (1-10%) and liver (5-10%). REIMS allows rapid and specific identification of offal cuts within adulterated beef burgers and could provide a paradigm shift across many authenticity applications.

Development of a comprehensive analytical platform for the detection and quantitation of food fraud using a biomarker approach. The oregano adulteration case study.

Due to increasing number of food fraud incidents, there is an inherent need for the development and implementation of analytical platforms enabling detection and quantitation of adulteration. In this study a set of unique biomarkers of commonly found oregano adulterants became the targets in the development of a LC-MS/MS method which underwent a rigorous in-house validation. The method presented very high selectivity and specificity, excellent linearity (R2>0.988) low decision limits and detection capabilities (<2%), acceptable accuracy (intra-assay 92-113%, inter-assay 69-138%) and precision (CV<20%). The method was compared with an established FTIR screening assay and revealed a good correlation of quali- and quantitative results (R2>0.81). An assessment of 54 suspected adulterated oregano samples revealed that almost 90% of them contained at least one bulking agent, with a median level of adulteration of 50%. Such innovative methodologies need to be established as routine testing procedures to detect and ultimately deter food fraud.

Advanced LC-MS-based methods to study the co-occurrence and metabolization of multiple mycotoxins in cereals and cereal-based food.

Liquid chromatography (LC) coupled with mass spectrometry (MS) is widely used for the determination of mycotoxins in cereals and cereal-based products. In addition to the regulated mycotoxins, for which official control is required, LC-MS is often used for the screening of a large range of mycotoxins and/or for the identification and characterization of novel metabolites. This review provides insight into the LC-MS methods used for the determination of co-occurring mycotoxins with special emphasis on multiple-analyte applications. The first part of the review is focused on targeted LC-MS approaches using cleanup methods such as solid-phase extraction and immunoaffinity chromatography, as well as on methods based on minimum cleanup (quick, easy, cheap, effective, rugged, and safe; QuEChERS) and dilute and shoot. The second part of the review deals with the untargeted determination of mycotoxins by LC coupled with high-resolution MS, which includes also metabolomics techniques to study the fate of mycotoxins in plants.

A real time metabolomic profiling approach to detecting fish fraud using rapid evaporative ionisation mass spectrometry.

INTRODUCTION: Fish fraud detection is mainly carried out using a genomic profiling approach requiring long and complex sample preparations and assay running times. Rapid evaporative ionisation mass spectrometry (REIMS) can circumvent these issues without sacrificing a loss in the quality of results. OBJECTIVES: To demonstrate that REIMS can be used as a fast profiling technique capable of achieving accurate species identification without the need for any sample preparation. Additionally, we wanted to demonstrate that other aspects of fish fraud other than speciation are detectable using REIMS. METHODS: 478 samples of five different white fish species were subjected to REIMS analysis using an electrosurgical knife. Each sample was cut 8-12 times with each one lasting 3-5 s and chemometric models were generated based on the mass range m/z 600-950 of each sample. RESULTS: The identification of 99 validation samples provided a 98.99% correct classification in which species identification was obtained near-instantaneously (≈ 2 s) unlike any other form of food fraud analysis. Significant time comparisons between REIMS and polymerase chain reaction (PCR) were observed when analysing 6 mislabelled samples demonstrating how REIMS can be used as a complimentary technique to detect fish fraud. Additionally, we have demonstrated that the catch method of fish products is capable of detection using REIMS, a concept never previously reported. CONCLUSIONS: REIMS has been proven to be an innovative technique to help aid the detection of fish fraud and has the potential to be utilised by fisheries to conduct their own quality control (QC) checks for fast accurate results.

A comprehensive strategy to detect the fraudulent adulteration of herbs: The oregano approach.

Fraud in the global food supply chain is becoming increasingly common due to the huge profits associated with this type of criminal activity. Food commodities and ingredients that are expensive and are part of complex supply chains are particularly vulnerable. Both herbs and spices fit these criteria perfectly and yet strategies to detect fraudulent adulteration are still far from robust. An FT-IR screening method coupled to data analysis using chemometrics and a second method using LC-HRMS were developed, with the latter detecting commonly used adulterants by biomarker identification. The two tier testing strategy was applied to 78 samples obtained from a variety of retail and on-line sources. There was 100% agreement between the two tests that over 24% of all samples tested had some form of adulterants present. The innovative strategy devised could potentially be used for testing the global supply chains for fraud in many different forms of herbs.