Highly sensitive and accurate screening of 40 dyes in soft drinks by liquid chromatography–electrospray tandem mass spectrometry

A method combining solid phase extraction with high performance liquid chromatography–electrospray ionization tandem mass spectrometry was developed for the highly sensitive and accurate screening of 40 dyes, most of which are banned in foods. Electrospray ionization tandem mass spectrometry was used to identify and quantify a large number of dyes for the first time, and demonstrated greater accuracy and sensitivity than the conventional liquid chromatography–ultraviolet/visible methods. The limits of detection at a signal-to-noise ratio of 3 for the dyes are 0.0001–0.01 mg/L except for Tartrazine, Amaranth, New Red and Ponceau 4R, with detection limits of 0.5, 0.25, 0.125 and 0.125 mg/L, respectively. When this method was applied to screening of dyes in soft drinks, the recoveries ranged from 91.1 to 105%. This method has been successfully applied to screening of illegal dyes in commercial soft drink samples, and it is valuable to ensure the safety of food.