Demand for advanced food safety testing for pathogens, toxins, pesticides, GMOs, and other undesirables is on the rise. According to market intelligence outfit Markets and Markets, global sales for such equipment will hit approximately $14bn by 2018.
Thermo Scientific has released the TSQ 8000 Evo, a triple-quadrupole gas chromatography/mass spectrometry (GC-MS) unit. Suitable for testing food for dioxins, PCBs, pesticides, pathogens, and other unwanted materials, the unit reportedly delivers results with a greater degree of sensitivity and faster performance than previous models.
Testing capabilities
Paul Silcock, GC-MS marketing manager for thermo Fisher Scientific, told FoodProductionDaily when it comes to GC-MS units working in food environments, there’s no such thing as too much capacity, performance, and productivity.
“This was our motivation for advancing this popular triple quadrupole GC-MS platform to the next level," he said. "It’s a major evolutionary step in GC-MS/MS productivity and performance.”
Updated features
According to the manufacturer, the TSQ 8000 Evo system builds upon features of the previous model, the TSQ 8000. It uses the company’s EvoCell technology, which reportedly has been demonstrated to triple selected reaction monitoring (SRM) transition rates without compromised sensitivity.
Additionally, Thermo Scientific’s Timed-SRM software, designed to optimize selected reaction monitoring schedules, is featured. The manufacturer reports the EvoCell feature leads to up to triple the sensitivity at the same scan speed, which means food safety professionals can screen and quantitate more than 1,000 compounds in a single run at low limits of detection.
Thermo Scientific reports the system has been engineered to simplify and automate operation. The updated AutoSRM software has been adjusted to increases the ease in developing SRM tests on the platform.
Also, the firm’s ExtractaBrite ion source is designed for high matrix tolerance to minimize sample preparation and cleaning. When the source does need maintenance, it reportedly can be removed without breaking vacuum to further enhance uptime.
The Thermo Scientific TSQ 8000 Evo triple quadrupole GC-MS made its debut at the 62nd ASMS Conference on Mass Spectrometry and Allied Topics. The event took place this week in Baltimore.