Residual solvents in foods are defined as organic volatile chemicals used or produced in manufacturing of
extracts or additives, or functional foods. The solvents are not completely eliminated by practical manufacturing techniques
and they also may become contaminated by solvents from packing, transportation or storage in warehouses. Because residual
solvents have no nutritional value but may be hazardous to human health, there is a need to remove them from the final
products or reduce their amounts to below acceptable levels. The purpose of this study was to develop and evaluate an
analytical method for the screening of residual solvents in health functional foods. Furthermore, the aim of this study was
to constitute a reasonable management system based on the current state of the market and case studies of foreign countries.
Eleven volatile solvents such as MeOH, EtOH, trichloroethylene and hexane were separated depending on their column
properties, temp. and time using Gas Chromatography (GC). After determining the GC conditions, a sample preparation
method using HSS (Head Space Sampling) was developed. From the results, a method for analyzing residual solvents in
health functional foods was developed considering matrix effect and interference from the sample obtained from the solution
of solvents-free health functional foods spiked with 11 standards solutions. Validation test using the developed GC/HSS/MS
(Mass Spectrometry) method was followed by tests for precision, accuracy, recovery, linearity and adequate sensitivity.
Finally, examination of 104 samples grouped in suits was performed by the developed HSS/GC/MS for screening the
solvents. The 11 solvents were isolated from health functional foods based on vapor pressure difference, and followed by
separation within 15 minutes in a single run. The limt of detection (LOD), limit of quantification (LOQ), recovery and
coefficient of variation (C.V.) of these compounds determined by the HSS/GC/MS were found to be 0.1 pg/mL, 0.1-125 pg/
g, 51.0-104.6%, and less than 15%, respectively. Using the developed HSS/GC/MS method, residual solvent from 16 out
of 104 health functional products were detected as a EtOH. This method therefore seems to be a valuable extension of
analytical method for the identification of residual solvents in health functional food.