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Monitoring the Benzene Contents in Soft Drinks Using Headspace Gas Chromatography−Mass Spectrometry: A Survey of the Situation on the Belgian Market

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Laboratory of Food Analysis and Laboratory of Medical Biochemistry and Clinical Analysis, Faculty of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Vakgroep Bio-analysis, Harelbekestraat 72, B-9000 Ghent, Belgium; and Federal Agency for the Safety of the Food Chain, WTC III, 20th floor, Simon Bolivarlaan 30, B-1000 Brussels, Belgium
* Corresponding author [telephone +32(0)9.264.81.34 ; fax +32(0)9 0.264.81.99; e-mail [email protected]].
†Laboratory of Food Analysis, Ghent University.
‡Laboratory of Medical Biochemistry and Clinical Analysis, Ghent University.
§Federal Agency for the Safety of the Food Chain.
Cite this: J. Agric. Food Chem. 2008, 56, 12, 4504–4510
Publication Date (Web):June 4, 2008
https://doi.org/10.1021/jf072580q
Copyright © 2008 American Chemical Society
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Abstract

Whenever benzoic acid is combined with ascorbic acid in acidic beverages such as soft drinks, benzene can be formed. To determine the current situation on the Belgian market, a headspace gas chromatographic−mass spectrometric method was developed, which needs little to no sample preparation. This method was then used to analyze 134 soft drinks sampled on the Belgian market by the Federal Agency for the Safety of the Food Chain. Thirty-three percent of the samples contained no detectable benzene, whereas the majority of the samples (47%) contained trace amounts below the limit of quantification of the method (0.3 µg L−1). Ten samples were above the European limit for benzene in drinking water of 1 µg L−1, and one sample had a concentration of 10.98 µg L−1, thereby exceeding the action limit for benzene in soft drinks of 10 µg L−1 discussed at the Standing Committee on the Food Chain and Animal Health of the European Commission. Statistical analyses revealed that besides benzoic acid, ascorbic acid, and acidity regulators, the packing may also play an important role in benzene formation.

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  13. Adriana Pavesi Arisseto, Eduardo Vicente, Regina Prado Zanes Furlani, Ana Luiza Duarte Pereira, Maria Cecília de Figueiredo Toledo. Development of a Headspace-Solid Phase Microextraction-Gas Chromatography/Mass Spectrometry (HS-SPME-GC/MS) Method for the Determination of Benzene in Soft Drinks. Food Analytical Methods 2013, 6 (5) , 1379-1387. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12161-012-9554-8
  14. Martí Nadal, José L. Domingo. Sources of Human Exposure. 2013,,, 8-25. https://doi.org/10.1002/9781118679654.ch2
  15. Raquel Medeiros Vinci, Liesbeth Jacxsens, Joris Van Loco, Eric Matsiko, Carl Lachat, Thibault de Schaetzen, Michael Canfyn, Ilse Van Overmeire, Patrick Kolsteren, Bruno De Meulenaer. Assessment of human exposure to benzene through foods from the Belgian market. Chemosphere 2012, 88 (8) , 1001-1007. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chemosphere.2012.03.044
  16. Raquel Medeiros Vinci, Michael Canfyn, Bruno De Meulenaer, Thibault de Schaetzen, Ilse Van Overmeire, Jacques De Beer, Joris Van Loco. Determination of benzene in different food matrices by distillation and isotope dilution HS-GC/MS. Analytica Chimica Acta 2010, 672 (1-2) , 124-129. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.aca.2010.04.053
  17. I.M. Pérez-Díaz, R.F. McFeeters. Preservation of Acidified Cucumbers with a Natural Preservative Combination of Fumaric Acid and Allyl Isothiocyanate that Target Lactic Acid Bacteria and Yeasts. Journal of Food Science 2010, 75 (4) , M204-M208. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1750-3841.2010.01587.x
  18. T. van de Wiele, W. Verstraete. Conversion of Hydrocarbons by Gastrointestinal Microbiota and Consequences for Risk Assessment. 2010,,, 3147-3157. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-540-77587-4_237
  19. . Current literature in mass spectrometry. Journal of Mass Spectrometry 2008,,, 1711-1720. https://doi.org/10.1002/jms.1309

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