Assessment of the Determination of Azodicarbonamide and Its Decomposition Product Semicarbazide: Investigation of Variation in Flour and Flour Products

Abstract

Azodicarbonamide, as a bleaching agent and improving agent, is a permitted food additive in certain countries and can be determined by high-performance liquid chromatography. However, it partially degrades with the heat of processing to form trace amounts of semicarbazide, which shows carcinogenicity and also has been shown to cause tumors. The concentration of semicarbazide in azodicarbonamide-treated flour was determined by isotope dilution ((13)C, (15)N(2)-semicarbazide) liquid chromatography electrospray tandem mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS). The quantification was obtained utilizing the homologous internal standard. The limits of detection were 1 mg/kg for azodicarbonamide and 0.5 × 10(-3) mg/kg for semicarbazide. The rates of recovery were 82.3-103.1% for azodicarbonamide and 72.4-116.5% for semicarbazide. This study prepared four different types of flour products to investigate the variation of semicarbazide. The concentration of semicarbazide in all types of flour products is higher than that in flour, and the concentration of semicarbazide in outside of flour products is slightly higher than that in the inside. As the problem of food safety hazard aggravates daily, we should be more concerned about food security and human health.

A Rapid and Sensitive Method for Semicarbazide Screening in Foodstuffs by HPLC with Fluorescence Detection

“…The SEM extraction was carried out according to previous publications with minor modifications (Becalski et al 2004;Noonan et al 2005;Ye et al 2011). A variety of commercial products were purchased from local food stores.…”

“…1) (Mulder et al 2007). ADC is also widely used as a flour additive in some countries such as China, Canada, USA, and Brazil (Ye et al 2011). Recent studies proved that semicarbazide can be formed in processed foods prepared with ADC-containing flour (Becalski et al 2004;Noonan et al 2008).…”

“…This reaction improves the physical properties of the flour and is commonly used in the cereal industry to improve the quality of flours, particularly those poor in gluten. In Singapore, the use of ADC can result in up to 15 years imprisonment and a fine of $450,000 (Ye et al 2011). However, ADC is not listed as a permitted food additive in many countries such as Australia and Europe.…”

Rapid and label-free Raman detection of azodicarbonamide with asthma risk

“…All of them are illegal food additives and banned in those countries. In Singapore, when someone use ADA can bring about up to 15 years imprisonment and a fine of $450,000 [4]. ADA may cause respiratory issues, allergies and asthma, according to World Health Organization Concise International Chemical Assessment Document 16: Azodicarbonamide.…”

“…To date, HPLC-MS/MS [6] and LC-MS/MS [4] have been used for detection of ADA. Wang et al used LC-MS/MS to detect ADA in flour and flour products with a good linearity in the range of 0.5-10 mg/L (r 2 = 0.9991) and a quantification limit of 1.0 mg/kg [4].…”