Since the Belgian dioxin-chicken crisis in 1999, the kaolinitic clay contamination with dioxins and the citrus pulp contamination with dioxins, consumers’ concern exists about the safety of food. The key-contaminants causing the concerns in these crises were dioxins and PCBs.
These accidents revealed a need for continuous monitoring of the quality and safety of our food. However, currently there is not enough capacity within the European Union (EU) to measure dioxins in food and feed which is being fed to animals for meat production. Besides, the quality of the data produced by food control laboratories is sometimes limited due to the absence of materials to check the quality of the data.
The analysis of dioxins is expensive due to the unavoidable use of high resolution mass spectrometers (HRMS). During the Belgian dioxin crisis the need for a reliable, simple, and low-cost determination method for the analyses of dioxins was repeatedly mentioned. Methods based on low resolution mass spectrometry (even with chemical ionization) or tandem-in-time mass spectrometry (ion trap) do lack sensitivity and selectivity.
The DIAC project (Dioxin Analysis using Comprehensive Gas Chromatography) will focus on the development of a comprehensive gas chromatographic (GCxGC) method for the quantification of dioxins in different matrices at appropriate detection levels as alternative for HRMS. The project has started at 1 October 2001 and will last for 30 months.