Introduction:
3-Monochloropropane-1,2-diol (3-MCPD) is a contaminant from the chloropropanols family and it is widely used in various industrial applications. It has been associated with diverse deleterious activities affecting the kidneys, lungs, testes, heart, and immune system. The occurrence of 3-MCPD in various food products often occurs during the heating and culinary processes. This report reviews the global occurrence of 3-MCPD compounds in infant formula, soy sauce, and vegetable oils. Assessing the content of 3-MCPD in infant formula is particularly important, considering refined oil is a major ingredient and that its target consumers are more susceptible compared to adults.

Methods:
A total of 693 articles were initially retrieved from Scopus and PubMed, with 424 focusing on 3-MCPD occurrence in edible oil, 119 in infant formula, and 150 in soy sauce. After eliminating duplicate documents (n=97) and excluding 17 articles that did not align with the review scope, a total count of 68 articles were included in this study.

Results:
The focus on 3-MCPD contamination in cooking oil has been prominent, entailing the majority of studies. Among the studies, the highest concentration of 3-MCPD was found in Taiwanese pomace olive oil at 20.53 mg/kg in 2017. Surveying the 3-MCPD levels in infant formula, revealed a maximum content of 2194 µg/kg detected in Czech Republic samples. Concerning soy sauce contamination, Chinese samples showed the highest concentration at 189 mg/kg, making them the most contaminated among the three matrices reviewed and samples from the United Kingdom had the second-highest reading at 82.8 mg/kg. Various methods were employed to detect 3-MCPD in these matrices, with solid phase extraction (SPE) and GC-MS being frequently utilized.

Conclusions:
Addressing 3-MCPD contamination requires collaboration among the food industry, regulators, and researchers to develop improved production processes or implement effective mitigation strategies. Continuous monitoring, adherence to good manufacturing practices, and research efforts are essential to reduce 3-MCPD levels in food products and safeguard public health.

Conflict of interest:
The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest in the publication of this article. The authors have no conflicts of interest to report in this work. Abstract was not submitted elsewhere and was first published here.

Funding:
This research received no external funding from any funding agency in the public, commercial, or not-for-profit sectors.