9.1 Wine and Olive Oil

In the food-processing industry, polydimethylsiloxanes (PDMS) categorised as E900 are used as structure-shaping food additives [1-3]. They are used in various stages of food processing as foam-suppressing and anti-foaming agents. Silicones and PDMS may also be present in foodstuffs as contaminants. The source of contamination of foodstuffs with silicone polymers may also be the packaging material, which may be manufactured by impregnation in order to obtain silicon paper or the food processing operation involving the use of silicone grease [4-6]. PDMS in foodstuffs may also result from silicone plant protection agents used during production of edible plants [7, 8]. When silicones started to be used in food and pharmaceutical industries, it became necessary to identify and determine trace amounts of these substances. Food and medicine agencies, such as the US Food and Drug Administration or the European Union require that adding silicones in a production process should be controlled, i.e., that the amount in the finished product should be identifiable [9]. According to the existing regulations [10], amounts of PDMS in foodstuffs should not exceed 10 mg/kg of the product. There is also a recommended acceptable daily intake of 1.5 mg/kg body weight given by the Joint FAO/WHO Expert Committee on Food Additives (JECFA) in 1974.

Atomic absorption spectrometry (AAS), atomic emission spectrometry (AES) [11], infrared (IR), Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) and Raman spectroscopy have all been studied at various times for the determination of silicon compounds. AAS has been used to determine silicon in...