Essential testing for mycotoxins
Mycotoxins are naturally occurring toxins in food which come from moulds growing on various crops and foodstuffs, including:
Cereals
Nuts
Dried fruits
Spices
Coffee beans
Mycotoxins can cause several serious health problems, including:
Acute poisoning
Immune deficiency
Kidney and liver damage, and
Cancer
Their harmful effects on humans, animals, and on livestock and crop production – as well as their overall economic impact – make mycotoxins an acute and wide-ranging issue. It is vital, therefore, for food producers, manufacturers, suppliers and key agencies to be able to test for mycotoxins reliably, rapidly and efficiently.
What are mycotoxins?
The myco part of the name relates to fungi.
The name mycotoxin was first used in 1960 following the outbreak of a disease that killed thousands of turkeys in England. It was initially called Turkey X. Investigators were able to discover that the source of the outbreak was a toxic groundnut meal imported from Brazil. A species of mould had evolved, known as aspergillus flavus, that produced toxins that became components in the groundnut meal.
These aflatoxins were found to be carcinogenic. They are just one form of mycotoxin, and different types will target different organs and systems in the body. Some have a multiple impact. The most common effect mycotoxins have in both humans and animals is suppressing the immune system.
Research has identified several hundred different mycotoxins. Along with aflatoxins, the most common mycotoxins that can impact the food chain include:
Vomitoxin
Fumonisin
Zearalenone
Ochratoxin
T-2
Although mycotoxins were only named as such in the 20th century, their devastating impact goes back a lot further.
St Anthony’s fire
Ergotism is an intensely painful burning feeling in limbs and extremities, caused by ergotamines, which come from a fungus known as claviceps purpurea. This fungus contaminates rye and wheat.
The form of chronic ergot poisoning, which can lead to hallucinations, severe gastrointestinal conditions and even a type of dry gangrene, it causes was widespread in the Middle Ages. It was known as St Anthony’s fire, and frequent epidemics of it were started by people eating contaminated rye bread.
Since the discovery of mycotoxins in the 1960s, coupled with the fact they occur in human foods as well as in animal feeds, there have been worldwide efforts to detect them.
Common mycotoxins and their impact
Aflatoxins – mainly from the aspergillus fungus, which thrives in warm, humid, subtropical climates. There are more than 20 known aflatoxins, which can cause chronic disease, cancer, liver damage, tumours and alter DNA leading to birth defects. They are found in peanuts, corn, cotton, rice, tree nuts, figs and copra.
Vomitoxin – this is part of the trichothecene family and is also known as deoxynivalenol (DON). It comes from fusarium fungus types, which like wet and cool environments. It can cause vomiting, taste aversion and even anorexia. It affects corn, wheat, barley and sorghum, and is found in flour, bread, beer, baby food, liver, milk and eggs.
Fumonisin – produced by fusarium verticillioides, this mycotoxin causes health problems in horses and pigs, and can cause diseases in humans affecting the brain, lungs, liver and kidneys as well as oesophageal cancer. It mainly affects corn.
Zearalenone – produced by fusarium graminearum, this mycotoxin can occur alongside DON. It damages the reproductive system, causing early puberty in seven and eight-year-old children and research indicates it may play a part in cervical cancer. It can be in corn, barley, rice, oats, rye, sorghum, soya and wheat.
Ochratoxin – from aspergillus and penicillium, this causes disease in animals, including poultry, pigs and other meats. It affects the brain, kidneys and liver. It is found in wheat, barley, peanuts and cocoa.
T-2 – this is produced by fusarium and is more common in European than American grains. As it affects protein synthesis and cell replication, its main impact is on harvests with the potential to lead to severe food shortages. It can affect corn, barley, wheat, oats and rye.
When does mycotoxin contamination occur?
The main risk of contamination increases during the harvesting of crops, then during drying and storage. However, mycotoxin contamination typically starts during the growing season. Environmental conditions can have a significant impact on the ability of mycotoxins to spread. They affect up to 25 per cent of crops globally, and the risks they pose extend up the food chain, as animals that consume contaminated feed can then pass on mycotoxins through meat, milk products and eggs.
Supporting food safety with mycotoxin testing
Mycotoxins present an ongoing threat to food safety, but there are easy and economic ways to test for them:
ROSA Lateral Flow Mycotoxin Strips – ROSA stands for Rapid One Step Assay, and these lateral flow strips provide quick quantitative results. The Charm EZ-M Reader is an automatic testing platform for reading the ROSA test strips.
Charm II Aflatoxin Kits – running on the Charm II system, these kits are designed for veterinary, lab and regulatory use, and provide a comprehensive analysis of biological residues. The World Health Organisation (WHO) has convened a scientific committee jointly with the Food and Agriculture Organisation of the United Nations known as JECFA. This is the international body for evaluating the health risk from natural toxins such as mycotoxins. The UK Food Standards Agency has codes of practice for fusarium and ochratoxin A.
More Information about mycotoxin testing
For details about mycotoxin testing and Charm products, contact Calibre Control.