Determination of calcium disodium ethylenediaminetetraacetate (E385) in marketed bottled legumes, artichokes and emulsified sauces by gas chromatography with mass spectrometric detection

An original method to determine the food additive calcium disodium ethylenediaminetetraacetate in bottled food is proposed. The method involves the solid-liquid extraction of a portion of the whole content of legume or artichoke bottles, or the dilution of sauce samples, with water followed by an evaporation step by heating. Finally, ethylenediaminetetraacetic acid is methylated and determined by GC. Recoveries obtained on spiked samples were acceptable (96-108%) with RSDs comprised from 4.3% to 10%. Results suggest that the determination of additive only in the liquid phase of legume or artichoke bottles is not suitable to know its total amount because the additive is distributed between the liquid and solid phases. The contribution of each step of the analytical method to the uncertainty of the measured concentration has been assessed by a “bottom-up” approach, including the heterogeneity of the sample which resulted to be very variable after studying twenty samples.