Abstract
Ambient and direct mass spectrometry (MS) methods are becoming increasingly used for the rapid analysis of food, beverage and agricultural samples. Novel ionization approaches combined with targeted, or untargeted workflows provide analytical outcomes within a greatly reduced time period compared to traditional separation science coupled with MS detection. This review will provide an overview of atmospheric pressure ionization MS based techniques for analysis of food, beverage and agricultural samples, with an emphasis on direct and rapid analysis including ambient ionization. The review will be completed through presentation of relevant examples of the use of ambient ionization techniques for food and beverage analysis along with the authors perspectives for future challenges relevant to the field.