Universitätslehrgang »Mass Spectrometry in Food Safety«

Growing concerns about food and feed safety are a consequence of the global market, climate change and increased public awareness of health and quality. 

Liquid chromatography coupled with mass spectrometry (LC-MS) is one of the most selective and sensitive  analytical techniques for the unambiguous identification and accurate quantification of food contaminants and residues. 
The multiplex capability of LC-MS allows the simultaneous determination of many different undesirable substances in food and feed. 
While the instrumentation is expensive compared to other techniques, so-called multitoxin methods can save analysis time and operating costs.

Program Content

• theoretical and practical aspects of LC-MS, advantages and disadvantages of different instruments, method development and validation, and their application to food samples
• sampling and sample preparation, and the use of MS for related aspects, e.g. for the determination of contaminating biomarkers
• analytical issues of food safety using state-of-the-art analytics

Learning Outcomes

Successful Patricipants

• will have acquired highly specialized theoretical and practical knowledge to analyse and evaluate various problems in relation to food safety by means of mass spectronomy
• will have a well-founded understanding of mass spectronomy and its application in order to enhance safety of food and feed in a technician's or lab manager's role

You will be able to

• communicate this knowledge nationally as well as internationally, tied in with latest findings in the field of food safety
• use the knowledge gained to understand LC-MS detection, method development, validation and application
• develop, apply and communicate new skills across the disciplines reacting to new threats
• work independently as well as in small research/analysis teams

Who should attend 

This course is designed for 

• graduates in natural scientific and/or equivalent studies (e.g. B.Sc., M.Sc., PhD)
• professionals with a proven existing expertise in the field

next Program Run: 2026

next Program Run: 2026

Organisation

Institute of Bioanalytics and Agro-Metabolomics
at the Department of Agricultural Sciences, IFA Tulln