Baseline levels of melamine in food items sold in Canada. II. Egg, soy, vegetable, fish and shrimp products

• Published in: Food additives & contaminants Part B, Surveillance communications Surveillance communications, 2010-09, Vol.3 (3), p.140-147
• Main Authors: Tittlemier, Sheryl A, Lau, Benjamin P.Y, Menard, Cathie, Corrigan, Catherine, Sparling, Melissa, Gaertner, Dean, Cao, Xu-Liang, Dabeka, Bob, Hilts, Carla
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: additives, general; Animals; Biological and medical sciences; Canada; cyromazine; Egg and egg product industries; egg products; Eggs; Eggs - analysis; Fish; Fish Products - analysis; Food additives; food composition; Food Contamination; Food industries; Food products; Fruit and vegetable industries; Fundamental and applied biological sciences. Psychology; Health risk assessment; LC/MS; melamine; milk; Penaeidae - chemistry; pesticide residues; seafoods; Shellfish - analysis; shrimp; Soy Foods - analysis; Soy products; soybean products; Triazines - chemistry; vegetable products; Vegetables - chemistry
• ISSN: 1939-3210; 1939-3229
• DOI: 10.1080/19440049.2010.502655

A variety of egg-containing, soy-based, fish, shrimp and vegetable products sold in Canada were analysed for melamine (MEL) using a sensitive solid-phase extraction LC-MS/MS analytical method. MEL was detected above the method quantification limit of 0.004 mg/kg in 98 of the 378 samples analysed. Concentrations in the various food product groups ranged 0.00507-0.247 mg/kg (egg-containing items), 0.00408-0.0479 mg/kg (soy-based meat substitutes), 0.00409-1.10 mg/kg (fish and shrimp products), and 0.00464-0.688 mg/kg (vegetable products). MEL was detected less frequently in egg- and soy-containing products. The presence of MEL in most of the Canadian Total Diet Study shrimp composites collected after 2001 suggested the residues in shrimp were caused by a relatively recent exposure to MEL. All concentrations of MEL reported were lower than the 2.5 mg/kg interim standard established for MEL in items containing milk and milk-derived ingredients and the respective maximum residue limits for cyromazine and its metabolite, melamine, in vegetables set by the Canadian Government (2009; http://www.hc-sc.gc.ca/fn-an/securit/chem-chim/melamine/qa-melamine-qr-eng.php#8). The consumption of foods containing these low levels of MEL does not constitute a health risk for consumers.