Starch is a polysaccharide made up of straight-chain and branched-chain polymers of glucose at varying lengths produced by most plants for energy storage. It can be hydrolyzed and broken down partially or completely to glucose. Maltodextrin is an oligosaccharide, food additive, and thickener [generally recognized as safe (GRAS)] derived by partially hydrolyzing starch that has been treated with high heat and enzymes. The typical length of the polymeric glucoses found in maltodextrin range from 3 to 20 glucose units.<br/><br/>The US FDA’s Forensic Chemistry Center (FCC) has investigated numerous cases over the past 16 years involving economically motivated adulteration. An overview of several cases of adulteration of genuine product with oligosaccharides in various matrices including cheese, wheat and rice gluten used in pet foods, dietary supplement powders and a body building supplement will be presented. Several analytical techniques have been utilized to characterize oligosaccharide adulteration in these products. These include iodine testing, high performance anion exchange chromatography with pulsed amperometric detection (HPAEC-PAD) with an oligosaccharide column for qualitative identification of maltodextrin or wheat dextrin. Products have also been analyzed by enzyme hydrolysis to quantitate hydrolyzable oligosaccharides (quantitated as glucose) with HPAEC-PAD. Additional characterizing of powders has been performed using Fourier transform infrared (FT-IR) spectroscopy, optical microscopy and total protein determination using bicinchoninic acid assay (BCA assay). In addition to discussing specific cases, this presentation will discuss advantages and limitations of each technique and the need for a multidisciplinary approach, when analyzing economically motivated adulteration samples.

O waiter, there's an oligosaccharide in my soup": Overview of the increasing use of oligosaccharides in economically motivated adulteration investigations

Macromolecular Chemistry: The Second Century

[Author Benefits](https://scimeetings.acs.org/?utm_source=pubs_content_marketing&utm_medium=website&utm_campaign=0320_MCF_NPI_Launch_Spring_Homepage&ref=pubs_content_marketing)

[How to use SciMeetings](https://storage.googleapis.com/dl.morressier.com/acs/SciMeetings-ACSSpring2020-HowToGuide_M3020-Final.pdf)

[Frequently Asked Questions](https://storage.googleapis.com/dl.morressier.com/acs/SciMtng_ACSNMSp2020_FAQ_M3120_Final.pdf)

ACS Spring 2020 National Meeting & Expo

The official archive and repository for all ACS Meetings & Expositions abstracts and select posters or presentations.