Simultaneous determination of 24 congeners of 2- and 3-monochloropropanediol esters and 7 congeners of glycidyl esters using direct multi-residue analytical LC-MS/MS methods in various food matrices

Glycidyl esters (GEs) and 2- and 3-monochloropropanediol esters (MCPDEs) are emerging process-generated food contaminants known as possible carcinogens. Herein, a direct method is developed and validated for the first time to simultaneously quantify seven GEs and twenty-four MCPDE congeners of processed foods using liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry in a single sequence without ester cleavage or derivatisation, thereby allowing for the simultaneous analysis of numerous food matrices with high accuracy and precision. Our results show levels of GEs varying from <LOQ to 13486 ng/g, whereas those of MCPDEs range from <LOQ to 12019 ng/g, respectively.