Department of Food Safety and Chemical Analysis (ZA)

Mycotoxins, filamentous fungal metabolites, alkaloids – Marcin Bryła, DSc, tel. 22 606 38 42

Pesticides, polychlorinated biphenyls (PCB), dioxins, PAHs and other contaminants – Marek Roszko, DSc., tel. 22 606 36 77

Analysis of elements, including heavy metals – Łukasz Woźniak, Ph.D., tel. 22 606 38 16

Other – Dr Krystyna Szymczyk, tel. 22 606 38 97

The main lines of scientific and service activity of the Department are as follows:

Research activities:

• Development of analytical methods for the assessment of food quality and safety. Development, adaptation and application of modern analytical methods and techniques for the study of chemical and biological contaminants, nutrients and adulterants;
• Identification and quantification of natural components and environmental contaminants in raw materials and food preparations. Nutrient testing. Monitoring of food contaminants. Risk analysis of contaminants in food;
• Development of health quality standards for raw materials and food products;
• Authenticity testing (adulteration) of food, feed: detection of authorised and non-authorised additives in food;
• introduction into production practice of natural food products with health-promoting characteristics, including increased nutritional value and reduced levels of undesirable substances.
• risk assessment of chemical contaminants in agri-food products;
• study of metabolic pathways and environmental transformations of chemical contaminants in food;
• study of mechanisms and kinetics of formation of undesirable substances during food processing;
• study of controlled substances, including psychoactive substances;
• analysis of protein composition and structure;
• metabolomics of the food microbiome;
• analysis of selected toxicological aspects related to the occurrence of contaminants in food;
• instrumental analysis of flavouring substances present in food;

Service activities include:

• analyses and expert opinions on the quality of raw materials and food products for economic operators;
• standardisation activities in the field of revision of subject standards of the fruit and vegetable industry and methodical determination of contaminants in food (PN, PN-EN, PN-ISO).

Training activities include:

Training in modern analytical techniques used in the analysis of contaminants in food. The Department conducts research into many chemical and biological contaminants, as well as selected basic nutrients of food products and additional substances, which are increasingly being introduced into food produced in Poland. The research carried out at the Department allows us to follow the most important developments in the area of food analysis worldwide. The results of the analytical research have been and are being used in the agri-food industry in the development and evaluation of new technologies and the production of high quality food products, and also serve to promote both the export of Polish food products and their introduction to the domestic market. The reliability of the results obtained has been repeatedly confirmed by positive participation in national and international proficiency tests and inter-laboratory comparisons. The Department also participates in establishing reference values in plant materials for proficiency tests organised by the Institute of Chemistry and Nuclear Technology.

The Department of Food Safety and Chemical Analysis specialises in the study of:

• raw materials and products of fruit, vegetables and cereals,
• juices, beverages, fruit nectars and fruit and vegetable nectars
• beer, wine, spirits
• confectionery and bakery products
• coffee, dried fruit, nuts, spices, etc.

We use modern instrumental techniques, such as:

• high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) with detectors (UV, FL, DAD, RI, MS)
• gas chromatography (GC) with detectors: FID and MS/MS;
• atomic absorption spectrometry (FAAS, FES, ZETAAS, HGAAS, VG-AAS);
• UV-VIS spectrometry
• high-resolution TOF and Orbitrap mass spectrometry

The Department of Food Safety and Chemical Analysis performs tests confirmed by the Research Laboratory Certificate of Accreditation AB 452 issued by the Polish Accreditation Centre.