BOOK OF ABSTRACTS - 9th International Symposium on RECENT ADVANCES IN FOOD ANALYSIS (RAFA)

Significance of the Topic

The 9th International Symposium on Recent Advances in Food Analysis convened leading experts to address critical challenges in food safety, authenticity, contaminant monitoring and tracing of emerging risks. Advances in analytical chemistry underpin regulatory compliance, quality assurance and public health protection by enabling detection of trace residues, toxins and adulterants across complex food matrices.

Objectives and Overview of the Symposium

The symposium aimed to present:

• Innovative sample-preparation and automated workflows for multi-residue analysis.
• Cutting-edge hyphenated techniques such as GC×GC-ToF-MS, LC-Q/ToF-MS, SFC-MS, ICP-MS and Orbitrap technologies.
• Advances in immunoassays, ambient MS, sensor devices and portable platforms for on-site screening.
• Emerging ”omics” strategies—metabolomics, transcriptomics and exposome profiling—for comprehensive food and human biomonitoring.
• Case studies on food fraud, authenticity, food contact migrants, mycotoxins, marine toxins and processing contaminants such as 3-MCPD, glycidyl esters and PAHs.

Methodologies and Instrumentation

Key analytical platforms highlighted:

• Liquid chromatography coupled to tandem or high-resolution MS (triple-quad, Q-ToF, Orbitrap).
• Two-dimensional gas chromatography with time-of-flight MS or FID/SCD detection.
• Supercritical fluid chromatography for fatty or polar analytes.
• Inductively coupled plasma-MS and atomic fluorescence for trace elements and speciation (As, Se, metals, nanoparticles).
• Immunoaffinity columns, immunoassays, microarrays and lateral-flow systems for rapid screening of mycotoxins, allergens and antibiotics.
• Ambient ionization sources (DART, REIMS) and miniaturized sensor devices (smartphone-based, MEMS, nanomaterials) for field-deployable testing.
• Stable-isotope techniques (EA-IRMS, GC-IRMS) and chemometrics for origin authentication and fraud prevention.

Main Themes and Discussions

Conference presentations detailed:

• Enhanced automation and on-line clean-up workflows minimizing matrix effects and increasing throughput.
• Non-targeted screening and data-mining approaches with expanding databases, ion mobility and advanced software for anomaly detection.
• Integration of chemometric models, machine learning and data fusion to improve classification of adulteration and geographical origin.
• Biomonitoring studies assessing human exposure to POPs, per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances, endocrine disruptors and mycotoxin biomarkers.
• Processing contaminant formation mechanisms (acrylamide, furan, MCPD esters) and mitigation strategies via formulation, thermal treatment or novel trapping agents.
• Emerging concerns such as microplastics in food, migration from contact materials, and uptake of pharmaceuticals by plants.

Benefits and Practical Applications

Advances presented translate into:

• Higher confidence in regulatory compliance with rapid, sensitive and selective multi-residue assays.
• Improved capability to authenticate high-value products and combat food fraud at scale.
• Better surveillance of environmental and processing contaminants to inform risk assessments.
• Portable diagnostics enabling on-site decision making throughout supply chains.
• Emerging omics tools to link dietary intake with human biomonitoring data for precision nutrition and safety.

Future Trends and Potential Applications

Emerging directions include:

• Integration of real-time sensor data with blockchain for immutable traceability.
• Expansion of AI-driven non-target screening and automated interpretation.
• Development of standardized interoperable data platforms and open-access spectral libraries.
• Miniaturization of high-performance MS systems for true mobile analysis.
• Holistic exposome approaches combining multi-omics, bioassays and advanced imaging.
• Green extraction methods and sustainable sampling materials to reduce environmental impact.

Conclusion

The symposium underscored the pivotal role of analytical chemistry in ensuring food integrity, safety and quality. Continued innovation in instrumentation, automation, data analytics and multidisciplinary approaches will strengthen our ability to detect emerging hazards, verify authenticity and protect public health.