Overuse of veterinary medicines in food-producing animals is a potential cause for an increase in antimicrobial resistance and their residues in the food chain. On the other hand, pesticides are chemicals used to control pests, fungi, and weeds to protect crops, including those used as animal feed. The Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) and the European Union have set the maximum residue limits for pesticides and aflatoxins as well as the minimum required performance limit (MRPL) for banned drugs. Therefore, monitoring of these toxic compounds becomes essential.
This application note describes an analytical solution for simultaneous detection and quantitation of a diverse range of contaminants—pesticide residues (192), veterinary medicine/drugs (54), and aflatoxin M1 in milk—using a simple modified QuEChERS method followed by LC-MS/MS analysis. The optimized method performance was verified following SANTE 12682/2019, 2002/657/EC, and EC 1881/2006 guidelines.
