Haack, G.G.HaackEwender, J.J.Ewender2022-03-092022-03-092000https://publica.fraunhofer.de/handle/publica/335586Mineral water in general is very sensitive to off-flavours. When changing the packaging from glass bottles to PET bottles the impact of influencing the flavour of mineral water is of great importance to the food manufacturer. Acetaldehyde - a sensorial active compound - is known to be present in PET bottles. According to Article 2 of the European Community Council directive 89/109/EEC "articles must be manufactured with good manufacturing practice so that, under their normal foreseeable conditions of use, they do not transfer their constituents to foodstuff in quantities which could bring about (...) a deterioration in the organoleptic characteristics (...)". The aim of this study was to estimate sensory limits for acetaldehyde in mineral water and to quantify acetaldehyde in mineral water samples. Two different mineral waters and tap water as a reference were spiked with different concentrations of acetaldehyde in the ppb range. These solutions were presented to a trained sensory panel in an increasing order of acetaldehyde concentration. For odour and taste detection and recognition thresholds were determined. To exclude the risk of the "error of anticipation" panellists identified their individual threshold in a triangular sensory test according to DIN ISO 4210. A headspace GC-FID method was developed to determine the acetaldehyde concentration in mineral water in the 1 ppb and sub-ppb range.en664688conference paper