Mycotoxins Archives - GALAB Laboratories
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Toxic Products of Metabolism
Mycotoxins are metabolised by fungi and represent a potential health risk for humans and animals on ingesting contaminated food and feed. Mycotoxins occur in temperate and tropical regions – depending on the species of fungus. The main risk groups are cereals, nuts, dried fruits, cocoa, coffee, spices, oilseeds, dried pulses and fresh fruit, especially apples. A contamination of the food is generally not visible for the consumer. Mycotoxins are chemically and physically very stable and survive storage and processing. Since it is very difficult to remove mycotoxins from food, the best method of control is prevention of their formation.
In March 2007 the EU regulation 1881/2006 issued maximum limits for mycotoxins in specific foods. Additionally further maximum limits, e.g. for dried figs are issued in the German contaminants regulation (KmV).
Representative sampling is crucial for the determination of mycotoxins because generally moulds are growing in isolated nests and are never distributed evenly throughout the sample. Because even small amounts can be very toxic, sensitive methods of analysis for safe determination and screening are necessary. We offer an ultra-rapid multi method based on UPLC-MS-MS. This method determines all relevant mycotoxins with a limit of detection which is up to a factor of 10 below the requirements of the EU contaminants regulation 1881/2006.
New Developments in the Analysis of Mycotoxins in Cereal-Based Food