GEN-MKT-18-7897-A
Nov 24, 2015 | Blogs, Food / Beverage | 0 comments
Truth – the first turkey I ever cooked was still frozen when it hit our plates. I couldn’t figure out why that thing was taking so long to roast. Then it hit me. I forgot to defrost the bird. If I recall correctly, even the giblets were still in it. It was ten p.m. when I broke the news to my guests that the turkey was not happening. A pizza was ordered, and everyone breathed a sigh of relief that they would not be suffering from a bout of food poisoning.
These days I defrost the turkey a few days ahead of the holiday. I know a turkey is done when it reaches 180 degrees Fahrenheit in the thigh and 165 degrees in the breast or stuffing. However, what I do not know is whether pesticides are lurking in the yummy deliciousness. As a scientist, I think about these things all the time. It is a common work hazard. For instance, the mass produced turkeys you find in the grocery store are injected with veterinary medicines to prevent illnesses and accelerate growth. No matter how long you cook the bird, those pesticides can remain in the meat even though a required withdrawal period takes place before slaughter.
Thankfully, manufacturers entrust labs to test routinely food for antibiotics using technology like the SCIEX QTRAP® which can detect antibiotics at trace levels. Common drugs including Oxytetracycline, Tetracycline and Chlortetracycline, can be detected at low levels in less than three minutes. What is more is that our High-Resolution MS library contains more than 240 veterinary drug compounds to assist labs in the analysis of animal tissue that makes me feel much better about eating my turkey.
I understand not everyone wants a mass spectrometer as their centrepiece on Thanksgiving Day, which is why you can be grateful the testing happens well in advance of the bird purchase. However, if you are concerned about antibiotics in your turkey then check with local farmers to see how they raise their birds.
USDA Turkey FACTS
Produced by certain moulds, thriving in crops such as grain, nuts and coffee, mycotoxins have contaminated agriculture and food production industries for a long time. To intensify the challenge, mycotoxins are resilient, not easily broken down and ensuring the safety of food supply chains requires comprehensive solutions and we are here to share those solutions with you.
Electron-Activated Dissociation (EAD) is transforming the fields of metabolomics and lipidomics by providing enhanced fragmentation techniques that offer deeper insights into molecular structures. In September, Technology Networks hosted a webinar, “Enhancing Mass-Based Omics Analysis in Model Organisms,” featuring Dr. Valentina Calabrese from the Institute of Analytical Sciences at the University of Lyon. Valentina shared her insights on improving omics-based mass spectrometry analysis for toxicology studies using model organisms, particularly in metabolomics and lipidomics. This blog explores the additional functionalities EAD offers, its benefits in untargeted workflows, its incorporation into GNPS and molecular networking, and the future role it could play in these scientific domains.
Liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS) has gained significant attention in the clinical laboratory due to its ability to provide best-in-class sensitivity and specificity for the detection of clinically relevant analytes across a wide range of assays. For clinical laboratories new to LC-MS/MS, integrating this technology into their daily routine operations may seem like a daunting task. Developing a clear outline and defining the requirements needed to implement LC-MS/MS into your daily operations is critical to maximize the productivity and success of your clinical laboratory.
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