According to incomplete statistics, a total of 97 food and related standards will be officially implemented in September 2025, among which the most noteworthy should beGB 31658.26-2025 National Food Safety Standard - Screening of 127 Drug Residues in Animal based Foods - Liquid Chromatography High Resolution Mass Spectrometry MethodThis standard was drafted and formulated by Henan Agricultural, Livestock and Aquatic Products Inspection Technology Research Institute (formerly Henan Veterinary Drug and Feed Supervision Institute), jointly released by the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs, the National Health Commission and the State Administration for Market Regulation on June 3, 2025, and officially implemented on September 1, 2025.

This standard has milestone significance:

1. This is the first national mandatory food safety standard based on liquid high-resolution technologyIt has a pioneering and milestone role, setting a benchmark for promoting the implementation of more high-resolution standards in the future.

2. Improve the standard system: It fills the gap in the qualitative screening standards for multiple veterinary drug residues in animal based foods in China, and together with other veterinary drug residue detection standards, enablesThe total number of national standards for the detection of veterinary drug residues in China has increased to 126The system is more complete.

3. Enhancing regulatory capabilities and efficiency: Providing powerful technical tools for regulatory authorities to more efficiently and accurately detect drug residues in animal based foods, especiallyAddressing the challenges of screening for unknown drug residues.

4. Ensuring consumer health: Through high-throughput screening of 127 drug residues, the safety risks of animal products can be more comprehensively evaluated, providing a more solid guarantee for "safety on the tip of the tongue".

5. Promoting trade and development: Unified and advanced standard methods can help reduce trade disputes, provide technical support for the import and export of food and agricultural products in China, and also promote the development of related testing industries and technologies.

Standard Features

For the first time, high-resolution mass spectrometry technology has been used at the national standard level for animal residue screening, demonstrating the scientific, rigorous, and high standards of this standard,The standard features are summarized as follows:

01

The standard title is Liquid Quality High Resolution Method, which can be used as long as the instrument can meet the key performance indicators specified in the method. It has both wide applicability and reflects scientific and rigorous rigor.

02

Suitable for screening 127 types of drug residues in edible tissues such as livestock and poultry, eggs, sheep milk, and cow's milk, covering 16 categories of veterinary drugs such as sulfonamides, norfloxacin, nitroimidazoles, and macrolides, with a wide coverage.

03

The detection limit of the compound is1-10ppbAnd all of them are lower than the requirements of the national food safety standard "Maximum Residue Limits for Veterinary Drugs in Animal based Foods GB31650", reflecting their scientificity and high requirements.

04

The liquid chromatography high resolution mass spectrometry (LC-HRMS) method used in the standard is one of the cutting-edge analytical techniques today. Compared with traditional detection methods, it has the following significant advantages:

1)High resolution mass spectrometry can obtain high-quality and accurate full scan dataEven if the method does not initially preset a certain compound, it can still discover and identify unknown or unexpected pollutants through retrospective analysis of data, greatly enhancing the ability to respond to potential risks;

2)passHigh resolution (first level 70000, second level 17500), precise mass number (≤ 5ppm), and isotope distributionWaiting for information can accurately characterize compounds, effectively avoiding false positive results, with high selectivity and reliability;

3)One injection can screen 127 compounds simultaneouslyThanks to the rapid polarity switching function of the instrument, even if the target object needs to be detected in different ion modes, it can be completed in one analysis, greatly improving the detection efficiency;

4)For screening and qualitative analysis,High resolution mass spectrometry, with its accurate mass determination capability, relies less on standard samples compared to some traditional methods.

Thermo Fisher's complete solution and database

This standard is based on Orbitrap Liquid Quality High Resolution Q Exactive,Therefore, there is a complete "get it and use it" solution and database in response to this standard:

To meet the future development needs of veterinary drug residue monitoring, the Thermo Fisher liquid application team has launched a new and more comprehensive veterinary drug residue screening solution this year. Adhering to the advantages of the previous version such as ease of use, accuracy, and reliability, while also expanding the number of compounds, adding pre-treatment methods, instrument methods, data processing methods, usage guidelines, etc., it further highlights its usability.

2. Provide two forms of databases, namely compound mass spectrometry information database and spectrum library (as shown in the figure below), containing more than 500 primary and secondary information on veterinary drug residues, all of which have RT and fully cover the prohibited and restricted veterinary drugs in the "National Food Safety Standard for Maximum Residue Limits of Veterinary Drugs in Animal based Foods GB31650".

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The core technological advantages of Orbitrap

The Orbitrap Exploris series and Q Exactive series high-resolution mass spectrometers are powerful tools to cope with the new national standard, and their core Orbitrap electrostatic field orbit trap technology can provide:

1. High sensitivity:The primary consideration factor for screening using high-resolution mass spectrometry should be sensitivity, which meets or even exceeds the standard detection limit to avoid false negatives. Orbitrap has sensitivity comparable to mid to high end triple quadrupole rods, and can obtain high-quality primary and secondary mass spectra even for low levels (<1 ppb) of drug residues, ensuring the reliability and accuracy of screening results.

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2. Ultra high resolution:Starting at a resolution of 120000, exceeding standard requirements, effectively distinguishing matrix interference from target compounds, especially for accurately identifying compounds with very close mass numbers in complex samples. The following figure shows the differences in matching scores and quality accuracy of veterinary drug screening at different resolutions:

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3. High quality accuracy:Providing a quality deviation of<1 ppm is superior to the quality accuracy requirement of 5ppm in national standard qualitative confirmation (FDA and EU residue determination requirements). With the help of Easy IC internal standard correction function, long-term stability can be achieved, which is the key to accurately inferring element composition and reliable qualitative analysis, and can significantly reduce the probability of false positives.

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