Development and Validation of a UHPLC-qTOF MS Method for the Determination of Sorbitol-Based Nuclear Clarifying Agents in Food Simulants after Migration from Food Contact Materials

Nuclear clarifying agents (NCAs) are a class of substances frequently used as additives in the production of polymers to improve their physical properties. Some are EU regulated under Commission Regulation (EU) no. 10/2011 can be used as additives in the production of food contact plastics. However, limited analytical methods for their analysis are currently available, in part due to poor solubility in most common organic solvents and lack of analytical standards of known purity. In this work, a simple and sensitive method was developed to analyze 4 EU-regulated sorbitol-based nucleating agents in food simulants, following solubility studies to establish effective solvents. The method was shown to be accurate and precise and can be used with official food simulant D1 (50% v/v ethanol/H2O). Application to other ethanolic simulants is also possible, but due to solubility issues, a posteriori conversion of those simulants into simulant D1 is required. Finally, the method was applied to quantify the target analytes in simulants after migration testing with polypropylene (PP) beverage cups.