• Journal of Food Hygiene and Safety
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• v.28 no.1
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• pp.63-68
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• 2013

Ethyl carbamate (EC) is a contaminant generated in the fermentation processes of various fermented foods. In this study, residue levels of EC in 95 alcoholic beverage samples were determined by using Gas Chromatography/Tandem Mass Spectrometry (GC/MS/MS). All the samples were purified by a liquid-liquid extraction (LLE) method using dichloromethane. The LLE method enables an improvement in time and cost to detection and specificity over the conventional extraction methods. The limits of detection and quantification (LOD and LOQ) to analyze EC were 1.3 and 4.0 ng/mL, respectively. The recovery rates of EC were ranged from 90.0 to 97.5% at the levels of 50, 100, and 500 ug/L. Among traditional grain-based alcoholic beverage samples (n = 34), the average residue levels of EC in takju, yakju, and cheongju were 0.63, 7.01, and 14.11 ug/L, respectively. Among fruit-based alcoholic beverage samples (n = 48), those of EC in japanese apricot spirits, bokbunjaju, grape wines, and other fruit wines were 79.18, 1.66, 2.64, and 2.39 ug/L, respectively. Among distilled or diluted alcoholic beverage samples (n = 13), those of EC in soju (distilled or diluted), general distillates, liquors, and brandies were 0, 3.30, 8.20, and 8.52 ug/L, respectively. Therefore, this study reports that the residue levels of EC in the alcoholic beverages, distributed in the current domestic markets, did not reach its maximum allowed levels of 30 and 400 ug/L established for grape and fruit wines in Canada, respectively.