Experts from several research organisations worldwide including the JRC compiled a review discussing the most important recent developments and trends in mycotoxin determination in various food and feed matrices. Moreover they addressed the limitations of the presented methodologies.
Mycotoxins, secondary metabolites produced by organisms of fungi, are capable to cause disease and death in both humans and animals. It is important to note that one mould species may produce several different mycotoxins, and several species may also produce the same mycotoxin.
Examples of mycotoxins include aflatoxins, citrinin, fumonisins, ochratoxin A, patulin, trichotecenes, zearalenone and ergot alkaloids.
Mycotoxins can be found in food and feed products, in dietary supplements and also in indoor environments.
Many countries have set legislative limits permitted in food and feed products. In the European Union, maximum limits of a range of mycotoxins permitted in food and animals feed are set in a range of European Regulations and Recommendations. To protect human health and animal wellfare, it is important to monitor compliance with those legislative requirements.
During the past decades, analytical methods were developed and further refined, many of them standardised. Due to rapid advances in analytical methods, it is important for official food and feed control to be kept up-to-date.
Therefore, regular reviews highlighting methodological progress for mycotoxin determination are carried out by the scientific community with a focus on the implementation for the end-user dealing with food and feed compliance checking.
The European Commission's Joint Research Centre (JRC) has a long standing expertise in this field and has contributed to the latest overview on developments in mycotoxin analysis.
DOI: 10.3920/WMJ2018.2398
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- Publication date
- 29 July 2019