Advanced screening method detects drugs in food with high precision

This research paper presents an advanced analytical chemistry method for detecting 222 different drugs of abuse simultaneously in solid food products using LC-MS/MS technology and a QuEChERS-based extraction approach. The study is particularly significant because it addresses a growing public health concern: the intentional or accidental incorporation of drugs—including cannabinoids—into food matrices like chocolate, cookies, brownies, and other edible products. The method successfully achieved linearity standards exceeding R² ≥ 0.98 across diverse food types, with detection limits (LOQs) ranging from as low as ≤0.1 ng/g to above 10 ng/g depending on the specific substance and food matrix tested.

The validation results demonstrate practical utility for forensic and regulatory purposes. The snack, chocolate, cookie, and brownie matrices showed the most comprehensive analyte coverage, supporting quantitative determination of 121, 118, 108, and 108 substances respectively. This unified screening platform enables laboratories to detect not just cannabinoids but also stimulants, opioids, benzodiazepines, and novel psychoactive substances in a single analytical run, significantly improving efficiency over traditional single-compound methods. The findings are particularly relevant to cannabis regulatory frameworks, where edible testing labs need reliable methods to verify product labeling and detect undisclosed cannabinoid content.

However, the research highlights an important limitation: while the analytical method is thoroughly validated and scalable, actual testing of real-world contaminated or intentionally adulterated food samples remains restricted by regulatory constraints. This means the method provides a powerful tool ready for deployment, but regulatory bodies must first establish clear protocols for its application in food safety testing and cannabis edible quality control.