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The detection of food fraud and undeclared food allergens is one of the major challenges for competent authorities. Because adulterations are continuously adapted to the methods used to uncover them, the accomplishment of this task has become increasingly difficult over time. In recent years, various new promising methods for the detection of multiple food adulterants and multiple food allergens have been developed. Some of them utilize LC-MS to identify specific marker peptides. However, these methods have yet to be validated and standardized. For this reason, the German officials have established a working group with the objective of validating methods through multilaboratory validation studies. The experts of the working group also aim for the first time to standardize validated methods and to develop general validation criteria. This manuscript will highlight the current work of the group. For this purpose, an overview is given on the principles and applications of the new mass spectrometric methods. Moreover, requirements and the present work of other institutions regarding method validation are described.

In the course of this study 37 sediment samples were analyzed. They were taken after the flooding in September 2002 along the Elbe and at the mouths of its major tributaries. The sampling program covered the entire river stretch that was affected by the floods, from Obristvi (Czech Republic) to the Elbe estuary (North Sea) on the German coast. Analyses were performed for dioxins, nonylphenols, nonylphenol ethoxylates, bisphenol A, DEHP, musk fragrances, polybrominated diphenylethers, chloroalkylphosphates, organochlorine compounds, PAH, and organotin compounds. The results show that only a few weeks after the flood, contaminant concentrations in solid matter were comparable to those prevailing beforehand. Significant sources of contaminant input proved to be the tributaries Vltava (Moldau), Bilina (both in the Czech Republic), and the Mulde (Germany), as well as industrial and municipal sewage treatment works (STW) located along the Elbe. Further point sources are to be found in still water zones such as harbors and abandoned channels. These sources are activated when erosive action stirs up older sediments. Statistical analyses of the congener distribution of the dioxins provided evidence on the sources of these contaminants and freight levels in different river sections. The chemical analyses were complemented by results of ecotoxicological investigations with two sediment organisms (Chironomus riparius and Potamopyrgus antipodarum).