Target and non-target approaches for quality and safety testing of foods and beverages

In this webinar, Rachael Szafnauer, Product Marketing Manager at Markes International and Laura McGregor, Product Marketing Manager at SepSolve, will discuss the innovative and green analytical strategies being adopted to ensure food quality and safety. Szafnauer and McGregor will describe how to overcome common problems associated with sampling volatiles from foods and beverages and explain how the sensitivity can be improved using trap-enabled, extraction and enrichment methods. Learn how the combination of GCxGC and time-of-flight mass spectrometry can tackle complex samples that are out of reach for traditional GC–MS, and how data handling no longer needs to be the bottleneck of analytical workflows through simple, automated workflows to spot the differences between complex samples.

Szafnauer and McGregor will highlight the use of these powerful techniques to discover more in aroma profiling of plant-based alternatives and honey authentication, as well as to deliver more in routine applications, such as nutritional labelling of fat content and fumigant residue testing.

Key learning objectives

• Learn about the extraction and analysis of volatiles from a range of food matrices, using analytical techniques from solid phase microextraction (SPME) and headspace to high-capacity sorptive extraction and tube-based thermal desorption.
• Explore how GCxGC-TOF MS can allow you to discover more from aroma profiles.
• Learn how smart software can automatically align and ‘spot the difference’ between complex aroma profiles.
• Discover the latest GC (GCxGC) applications in food quality and safety, including honey authentication, aroma profiling of meat and dairy alternatives, measuring fatty acid content, and fumigant residue testing.

Who should attend?

• R&D aroma and flavor scientists who want to enhance their ability to extract and analyse complex samples
• Food scientists who want to understand more about aroma profiling, odour perception, sensory evaluation, food authenticity, and contaminants analysis
• Food quality and safety testing labs looking to improve data quality and reliability in routine applications
• GC users interested in alignment and comparison of data
• Laboratory managers, directors, supervisors, technologists, and flavorists interested in how advanced analytical techniques can provide a competitive edge

Presenter: Dr. Laura McGregor (Product Marketing Manager, SepSolve Analytical)

Laura’s background is in analytical forensic science, and her Ph.D. (at the University of Strathclyde, UK) focused on the chemical fingerprinting of environmental contamination using GC×GC-TOF MS. Following roles in application support and product marketing for Markes International’s TOF MS and software portfolios, she joined SepSolve in October 2017, where she continues to apply GC×GC–TOF MS to challenging applications.

Presenter: Rachael Szafnauer (Applications Scientist, Markes International Ltd)

Rachael Szafnauer received an MSci in forensic science from the University of South Wales, UK, where her final-year project focused on fingerprinting emerging psychoactive substances using advanced techniques such as GCxGC–TOF MS, in collaboration with Markes International. She later took up the role of thermal desorption product specialist at Markes, providing technical and application support to the commercial team, before taking on her current role as product marketing manager for the Centri product line and specializing in the development of applications using extraction and enrichment techniques for GC-MS.

Presenter: Blake Forman (SelectScience)

Blake studied chemistry at the University of Surrey, UK, and further went on to study a master’s in chemistry at the University of Southampton, UK. Blake has previously worked in the Medicines and Healthcare Products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) lab at LGC and as a technical sales specialist for Waters. As a member of the Editorial team, he now plays an integral role in shaping the content on SelectScience.