Phenomenex, a manufacturer of separation science consumables, has introduced Strata Melamine: a solid-phase extraction (SPE) sorbent designed for food testing.
Strata Melamine SPE cartridges simultaneously extract both melamine and cyanuric acid, cutting sample time in half compared to all other methods, according to the company.
It is the combination of these two compounds that forms the deadly melamine cyanurate, which has been found in pet food, infant formula and dairy products.
The Strata Melamine-optimised method produces injection-ready samples for LC/MS or GC/MS analysis.
When the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) established the Food Emergency Response Network (FERN), it published an LC/MS/MS method for detecting melamine that used Phenomenex SPE and HPLC columns.
Phenomenex has developed optimised LC/MS and GC/MS methods that work with Strata Melamine SPE cartridges to provide complete solutions.
The LC/MS method uses the company's Luna hydrophilic interaction liquid chromatography (HILIC) column to resolve cyanuric acid and melamine in less than three minutes.
The Phenomenex LC/MS method does not require ion pairing agents.
The GC/MS method uses the Zebron ZB-XLB-HT Inferno column and is an improved version of the FDA method, resulting in complete analysis in half the time.
Terrell Mathews, product manager for Phenomenex, said: 'Strata Melamine SPE cartridges greatly simplify the extraction of melamine and cyanuric acid for any user.
'You no longer have to buy two different SPE products and perform two different extractions just to do one analysis.
'This will result in significant time and cost savings.'
