Food safety imposes the knowledge of the presence in food stuffs of nitrogenated compounds like biogenic amines and 4-(5)methylimidazole. Several food matrices are in study namely wine, caramel, carbonated beverages and meat products (sausages) in order to evaluate the actual levels of these kind of compounds and their variation during food processing. The use of gas chromatographic mass spectrometric methods (including isotopic dilution methods) allows a very accurate quantification with high levels of sensibility.