Monitoring and risk assessment for some quaternary ammonium compounds as antimicrobial agents in some processed and packaged food

Quaternary ammonium compounds (QACs) might be applied as fungicides, herbicides, and algaecide in agriculture or as antimicrobial agents in food preservation. There are risks either from the application of QACs as food additives or the contamination during the disinfection and sterilisation of the food production lines by QACs in food production factories. Exceeding the maximum residue limits (MRLs) wasn't accepted by European legislation and Codex guidelines, leading to several risks in human health. Inspecting and monitoring of QACs in 143 packaged food products, such as liquid milk, juices, baby food products, herbal drinks, and frozen vegetables and fruits were carried out in some Egyptian local markets during 2022–2023. The In-house validated QuEChERS extraction method was operated and followed by LC-MS/MS analysis. Only one violated baby food sample that was contaminated with 0.064 mg/kg DDAC and 0.335 mg/kg BACs. According to the EU MRLs, there were no higher residue levels of QACs in juices, milk products, and frozen vegetables with acceptable concentrations. All analysed samples have acceptable results with concentrations less than 0.1 mg/kg, which means that they were all safe for human consumption and health. Our study supported the analytical procedure for the routine inspection of QACs in food.