Elemental composition of food is of great importance, since food is the main source of essential, major and trace elements for humans. Some potentially toxic elements may contaminate food, entering the food chain from the environment, processing, and storage. Therefore, the elemental analysis of food is fundamental for safety assessment. Fast and sensitive analytical techniques are required as a result of the increasing demand on multi-elemental analysis and product screening. Total reflection X-Ray Fluorescence (TXRF) is suitable technique, since it provides simultaneous multi-elemental identification in a wide dynamic range of concentrations. In this review, several different matrices such as drinks, beverages, vegetables, fruits, cereals, animal derivatives and dietary supplements are analysed by TXRF for food quality monitoring. The obtained results reveal a good precision and accuracy, highlighting TXRF as a competitive technique with atomic absorption spectroscopy (AAS) and inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (ICPMS).

Acrylamide is known for its potential health hazards. The aim of this study was to analyze the acrylamide content of confectioned bread in fifty four different pastries. Acrylamide levels obtained were high, ranging between 59 and 1273 ug/kg. Only two bakeries had lower quantities of acrylamide than the indicative value of EFSA, 150 ug/kg. These differences can be associated with the products confection process, but also with the use of different recipes bread.

A progressive diffusion of Mozzarella cheese products realized with frozen curd or frozen milk have been observed in the last years. In order to reveal adulterations in raw milk used for cheese manufacturing, we have developed a robust and rapid MALDI-TOF-MS profiling procedure of fresh and frozen buffalo milks. We finally identified 28 polypeptide markers of milk freezing storage. Abundance changes of polipeptide species following freezing treatment were confirmed by an independent approach. We observed the progressive formation in frozen buffalo milk of GLYCAM1-derived phosphopeptides.A progressive diffusion of Mozzarella cheese products realized with frozen curd or frozen milk have been observed in the last years. In order to reveal adulterations in raw milk used for cheese manufacturing, we have developed a robust and rapid MALDI-TOF-MS profiling procedure of fresh and frozen buffalo milks. We finally identified 28 polypeptide markers of milk freezing storage. Abundance changes of polipeptide species following freezing treatment were confirmed by an independent approach. We observed the progressive formation in frozen buffalo milk of GLYCAM1-derived phosphopeptides.

Pan frying is the main method of cooking of cutlets, and often the choice of oil to use is controversial. In this note, we proposed the use of extra virgin olive oil to cook Marchigiana cattle meat. In detail, we reported not only some data on the quality of extra virgin olive oil and meat, but also, the modification in α-tocopherol and fatty acid content in topside and silverside cuts of Marchigiana cattle, after frying. The results showed an improvement of quality of fatty acid content together an increase of α-tocopherol. In conclusion, considering our results, we promote the use of extra virgin olive oil, also, in the pan frying of cutlets.

In the present study, analytical methodologies based on inductively coupled plasma – mass spectrometry (ICP-MS) were developed for the determination of the elemental profile of saffron as a tool for its geographical traceability. Due to the high commercial price of the spice, special focus was paid in using only a minute amount of sample (30 mg).