A streamlined procedure for the determination of trace elements in foods

Citation

Barnes KW. 1997. A streamlined procedure for the determination of trace elements in foods. In Proceedings of the Second Conference on Zoo and Wildlife Nutrition, AZA Nutrition Advisory Group, Fort Worth, TX.

Abstract

Considerable analytical challenges were imposed on food chemists when Congress passed the Nutrition Labeling and Education Act of 1990 (NLEA). When this law was ratified, labeling of fourteen food nutrients became mandatory, and thirty-four others voluntary. Many Association of Official Analytical Chemists (AOAC) validated methods for foods are matrix or analyte specific. Developing rugged, generic methodology for all foods became a high priority. Streamlined sample preparation became essential. To aid this endeavor, foods were categorized by protein, fat, and carbohydrate content. This work targets all the NLEA trace mineral nutrients in all food matrices. Much of the analytical challenge to these determinations results from widely divergent levels of the analytes present and from high levels of dissolved salts and organics contributing to matrix effects and spectral interferences.

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