by Gitte Barknowitz, Global Market Development Manager, SCIEX
A significant challenge over the coming decades will be how to feed a growing population on a planet with a climate that’s less predictable for food production. The world’s population is expected to be 9.8 billion by 2050, and the global demand for meat is expected to rise correspondingly.
Despite the popularity of meat, its consumption presents inherent challenges. Meat-based diets require more energy, water, and other resources than those consisting of plants. Beyond sustainability concerns, the risk of infectious disease outbreaks spreading from animals to humans is large. The United States alone produces over 10 billion land animals each year for food, and disease spillover between animals and humans is common, with roughly 75 percent of emerging infectious diseases in humans having an animal origin. How can we feed the world’s growing population in a resource-responsible, sustainable, and safe way?
A major part of the solution could be a push away from traditional meat products and toward alternative sources of protein. What was once a trend is gaining momentum with an increase in the diversity of alternative protein products on the market. Plant-based options have long been consumed as sustainable meat alternatives. Microbial-based alternative proteins are a newer option, with the product Quorn being a popular example, offering meat-like products made from the fungus Fusarium venenatum. Insect-derived proteins—which are produced on an industrial scale nowadays, and mainly used to feed animals like fish—have a growing share of the market, and a major benefit of insects is their small resource footprint compared to traditional meat products. Finally, cell-cultured meats are the most recent addition to the alternative protein market. The technology involved in this meat production is relatively new, and the first lab-cultured burger was sold for a staggering $330,000 in 2013. In the last decade, however, the costs of manufacturing and production cell-cultured meats have decreased enough that the price of these meats, while subsidized, is similar to traditional meat products in Singapore, the first country in the world to approve the sale of cell-cultured meats.
Alternative proteins have enormous potential to help meet the world’s food needs, but the diversity and novelty of these products raise the question of whether these foods are safe. The novel cultivation methods of some of these products have the potential to produce toxins. Allergens are another concern for new food products. Food allergies result from the body’s immune system eliciting a strong immune response to a protein. While any food containing protein has the potential to cause an immune response, proteins from nuts and shellfish are common sources of food allergies. It is especially important to identify alternative protein products that contain these proteins, or similar proteins. Proteins in certain insects are known to be similar to those in some shellfish, with the potential to trigger a similar allergic reaction, making characterization of this type of alternative protein particularly important.
To aid in product development, there’s a need for sensitive analytics to identify both the safety of these new products and their nutritional composition. Mass spectrometry (MS) is the gold-standard technique to identify and quantify proteins and metabolites. SCIEX uses MS to study the safety of alternative protein products and to identify and quantify components.
Liquid chromatography combined with tandem mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS) is particularly sensitive and suitable for low-level detection of compounds during the development of these novel foods. Molecules, dissolved in liquid, are first separated using LC based on differences in compound migration rate through a porous solid phase. Samples then reach the MS instrument via tubing that comes from the LC system, and they are ionized in the source. Desired precursor ions are selected in an electromagnetic field, typically in a quadrupole, and then hit with an inert gas, breaking components into characteristic fragment ions. The selection of ions happens based on the mass-to-charge ratios of precursors and fragments—hence the term tandem mass spectrometry. The fragmentation enables greater specificity and sensitivity of detection compared to MS without fragmentation of the selected ions.
Researchers find additional accuracy with the use of time-of-flight MS (TOF MS). These instruments measure the time it takes for molecules in the electromagnetic fields to reach the detector and back-calculate the mass-to-charge ratios from that flight-time. This can be done for precursors and fragments. TOF MS enables scientists to differentiate molecules with similar mass-to-charge ratios and identify molecules based on molecular weight databases when the data is processed. The additional mass accuracy is particularly useful for an application such as a novel food product that has unknown components and large molecules like proteins.
Detecting allergens using MS
SCIEX developed an LC-MS/MS-based multi-allergen screening assay that has received the First Action Official Method (FAOM) classification from the AOAC INTERNATIONAL Official Methods Board (OMB). Trace amounts of common allergenic foods can be detected from both raw and baked goods. These allergenic foods are eggs, milk, peanuts, soy, almonds, Brazil nuts, cashew nuts, hazelnuts, pecans, pine nuts, pistachios, and walnuts. The method was updated in December 2022 to include sesame, As of January 2023, the FDA requires sesame to be labeled as an allergen on food packaging. The MS-based method offers several advantages to more traditional polymerase chain reaction (PCR) and immunoassay-based techniques. The detection accuracy of LC-MS/MS for processed products is typically greater than traditional methods, and the ability to test for multiple allergens in a single sample is a further advantage.
The quantitative nature of LC-MS/MS is an additional benefit for food safety characterization. Certain allergens are safe at low quantities, while others are dangerous for extremely sensitive individuals at trace amounts depending on a person’s lowest observed adverse effect level (LOAEL). The QTRAP 4500 system from SCIEX can detect allergens at low concentrations in a variety of food matrices. This quantitative information is crucial for new food development and accurate food labeling.
Beyond identification of known allergens, LC-MS/MS technology can be used to identify proteins that are similar to known allergens and therefore have a greater-than-average likelihood to cause a food allergy. In a recent study, researchers at the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organization used SCIEX LC-MS/MS technology to identify 20 potential allergens from cricket products, including three that are proteoforms, or distinct but typically similar proteins produced from the same genomic sequence of a common seafood allergen. The ability to anticipate and identify potential allergens is essential when developing and determining the safety of new food items.
Identification of potential allergens, as well as contaminants, is particularly important for novel alternative protein foods still in the product development stage, such as cell-cultured meats. Dr. Qingsong Lin, Director of the Protein and Proteomics Centre (PPC) at the National University of Singapore, wrote that “in cultured meat, the safety concerns lie in the potential allergenicity and toxicity of the media components, although there are already cell lines regarded as safe. The consideration is focused on the media, which eventually enters the cells, and if there are any harmful substances accumulated as a result.”
Cultivating Quality Products
Beyond the determination of new food safety, MS technologies enable scientists to quickly determine product viability during food development to achieve the optimal product. LC-MS/MS can be used not only to identify specific proteins of interest in a food, but also to capture a global snapshot of all proteins and metabolites present in a sample. Metabolites—small molecules that can affect food flavor and odor—are crucial for a positive food experience. MS systems can identify key metabolites that are not captured as nutritional information on a food label. A recent study by the Duke Molecular Physiology Institute, which highlighted the importance and suitability of MS for this growing market, demonstrated that traditional and plant-based meats with similar nutrition compositions regarding fat and protein, but differing in fiber, had dramatically different metabolic profiles.
“Large differences in metabolites could be observed, leading to the conclusion that the plant-based alternatives should not be viewed as nutritionally interchangeable, but perhaps complementary. A potential extension of this data could be further product optimization to achieve desired nutritional functionality,” said Lin.
Food scientists can use LC-MS/MS technology to rapidly iterate on the composition of alternative protein products, with the goal of achieving either foods with similar metabolic profiles to traditional meat products or complementary products with other desirable qualities.
Beyond the development of an optimal product composition, the sensitivity and quantitative nature of LC-MS/MS technology is invaluable for quality control and authentication. It can ensure that novel food products, such as cultured meats, are manufactured in safe and reproducible ways.
Cell culture media has been used to grow foods for only about a decade. It is therefore important to identify and quantify potential toxins using a robust and sensitive method such as LC-MS/MS. Traditional cell culture media is expensive, and plant-based media alternatives are currently being explored. Sensitive analytics are critical to identifying common plant contaminants, such as pesticides and mycotoxins, in addition to chemicals that might be leached from media packaging. Researchers can utilize this technology iteratively throughout the product development process to assess the safety of novel products as they modify methods to reduce production costs, find suppliers, and enhance food composition.
Utilizing Mass Spectrometry for a Healthier Future
Finally, MS technology can aid in a broader, more holistic understanding of food science. Much is still unknown about the compounds in our foods—not only how they affect food taste and feel, but also how they interact with our bodies. Just 150 nutrients are tracked by the United States Department of Agriculture, but it's estimated that there are between 20,000 and 30,000 chemical compounds in our foods. The large amounts of data gathered by techniques such as LC-MS/MS could greatly aid in our understanding of these compounds, and influence food development in the future.
MS technologies offer reliable and precise quantitative data regarding food safety and composition, making them instrumental in the development of innovative food products. In a dynamic world where global agriculture is at an inflection point, it is imperative to adopt sustainable and safe approaches to food production.
About the author
Gitte Barknowitz is the Global Market Development Manager for SCIEX. She holds a PhD from the German Institute for Human Nutrition and worked in Singapore as Food Application Specialist within the mass spectrometry industry covering Malaysia, Indonesia, Vietnam, Thailand and the Philippines. She has extensive knowledge of the global food market and its regulations. Based in the UK, she interacts globally with food testing regulatory bodies, food analysis laboratories, food manufacturers and academia to drive new innovations and workflows.