Inverse gas chromatography (IGC)−mass spectrometry was used to determine the extent of flavor release from a food matrix as a function of moisture uptake. At the surface of a solid, components with higher binding affinities can exchange with and replace components with lower binding affinities. As a low moisture baked product absorbs moisture from the air, flavor is lost from the matrix as water molecules exchange with the flavor molecules. The amount of flavor lost over time can be modeled using this approach to determine the onset of flavor release and total amount of flavor release as well as the identity of the released components and their relative order of exclusion from the matrix.