Abstract:

An ultra performance liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry (UPLC-MS-MS) analysis method
was established for the simultaneous determination of 11 industrial dyes such as Sudan red G, Sudan blue 2, Sudan red 7B,
Sudan red Ⅰ, Sudan red Ⅱ, Sudan red Ⅲ, Sudan red Ⅳ, Para red, Disperse orange 1, Disperse orange 11, and Disperse
orange 37 in foods. Samples were extracted with n-hexane, and cleaned up sequentially by neutral alumina column and solid
phase extraction column. The separation was performed on an ACQUITY UPLC BEH C18 column, using a mixture of 0.2%
formic acid in water with 10 mmol/L ammonium acetate and methanol-acetonitrile (7:3，V/V) as the mobile phase, and
then analyzed in the multiple reaction monitoring (MRM) mode．The correlation coefficients were above 0.99, the average
recoveries were 70%–102% with relative standard deviations (RSD, n = 6) lower than 14%. The limits of detection of the
method were 0.02–0.8 μg/kg. This UPLC-MS-MS method is simple, effective and sensitive, and can be suitable for the
determination and confirmation of residues of 11 bannedindustrial dyes in foods.

Key words: solid phase extraction, ultra performance liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry (UPLC-MSMS), food, industrial dyes