Fipronil Contamination in Eggs Update

Since my last blog, there has been an ongoing investigation into the widespread impact of contaminated egg products. According to The Grocer, 26 more egg foods were pulled from shelves in the fipronil scandal, bringing the total number to 69 products. Additionally, the UK Food Standards Agency issued a recalled list due to potential contaminations including food items such as cake mixture, deli fillers, profiteroles, and waffles.  It should be noted, however, that despite the recall, they reportedly pose little risk to the public.

The United States, Russia, South Africa, the Dutch Antilles, Turkey, Iraq, Norway, Israel, and Canada along with 26-member states of the of the 28 European Union member state, meanwhile have also reported the detection of fipronil in food products.¹

Fipronil Testing in Food Labs
Since fipronil is now a common topic amongst mainstream news outlets, there is much attention from consumers needing reassurance that the products which they buy and serve up at the family dinner table are safe. As such, there is a growing demand on food testing laboratories to analyze eggs and associated products quickly and accurately, so products are given the green light before they enter supply.

New Fipronil Testing Application

In response, SCIEX partnered with Phenomenex and TLR International Laboratories to produce a comprehensive application note entitled, “Rapid LC-MS/MS Method for the Analysis of Fipronil and Amitraz Insecticides and Associated Metabolites in Egg and Other Poultry Products.”

The developed assay uses a modified QuEChERS sample preparation method for the extraction of the egg and poultry matrices. Chromatography was thus performed using a reversed phase water/methanol gradient at a complete runtime of 7 mins injection to injection using a Kinetex Polar 2.6 μm C18 100 x 2.1 mm column from Phenomenex (Part No. 00D-4759-AN). Mass spectrometry was performed using a SCIEX 6500+ Triple Quad™. 

The Take Away: The assay discussed in this application note demonstrates that it is possible to reach the MRL level of 5μg/kg for all analytes within a runtime of just 7 minutes.

1.https://nltimes.nl/2017/09/05/fipronil-contaminated-eggs-found-45-countries