Monitoring on the 4‐Hexylresorcinol in various shrimp and crab meat products

4‐Hexylresorcinol, one of the Generally Recognized Safe (GRAS) food additives, has been used as an antioxidant to prevent from melanosis (black spot) in some crustacean including shrimp and crab shell. It is authorized with maximum residue levels of 2 mg/kg in European Union, of 1.0 mg/kg in China and Canada but unauthorized in Korea. In our previous study, we developed a sensitive and simple analytical method to identify 4‐hexylresorcinol using high‐performance liquid chromatography with fluorescence detection (HPLC‐FLD) and with mass spectrometry (HPLC‐MS/MS). Therefore, this study was to demonstrate the effective application of the established analytical method on real various food samples such as uncooked frozen shrimps, cooked frozen shrimps, and crab meats. Our results show that all of the tested samples were not detected with the 4‐hexylresorcinol. The data from this study will be valuable source for data base construction of science‐based satefy and management for the 4‐hexylresorcinol in foods.