Mycotoxin Testing by Eurofins
The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) estimates that roughly 25 percent of the world's food production contains mycotoxins.
Mycotoxins are secondary metabolites of moulds, which already have toxic effects on vertebrates in the smallest quantities. Depending on specific substances and concentration, they are cancerogenic, mutagenic, teratogenic and immunosuppressive.
The main source for mycotoxins entering the food chain are cereals, but many other food items such as fruits and nuts may be contaminated with mycotoxins as well. Out of the approximately 400 known species of mycotoxins, which belong to very different chemical compound classes, about 25 are counted as being relevant, due to their frequency in occurrence and their concentration.
Is your product toxicologically safe and in compliance with all legal requirements?
As the global leader for mycotoxin analysis, we offer to examine a large number of mycotoxins in a great variety of food and feed.
Relevant products
Food
- Crops (amongst others corn, wheat, rye, barley)
- Cereals
- Bread and cookies
- Dried fruits
- Nuts, kernels and flours
- Herbs and spices
- Milk and dairy products
- Coffee, cocoa
- Beverages (e.g. beer, wine)
- Baby food
- Meat and meat products
- Egg and poultry products
- Oils and fats
- Convenience food
- Basmati rice and other varieties
- Confectionery
- Dietary food
- Food additives
- Fruits and vegetables
- Grains and cereal products
- Tea, herbal tea, fruit tea
Non-Food
- Pet food
- Animal feed
- Pharmaceuticals
Specific analyses
Eurofins offers a variety of analyses, including testing for aflatoxins, ochratoxin A, fusarium toxins, alternaria toxins, patulin, penicillium toxins, ergot alkaloids, pyrrolizidine alkaloids and tropane alkaloids.
Why Eurofins?
Eurofins offers state-of-the-art laboratory equipment for analytical testing. Mycotoxin testing is demanding due to the inhomogeneous distribution within the sample and the appearance of mycotoxins in trace amounts. Our equipment encompasses various homogenizing devices for large sample sizes.
We are able to ensure the necessary detection of mycotoxins in trace amounts, thanks to a high number of specific and partly selective extraction and purification methods (such as Immunoaffinity Chromatography) and selective measuring and detection technologies (such as HPCL-MS/MS). As some of these methods are partly automatised, we are able to offer short turnaround times to give you a quick assessment of your raw materials.
Questions?
Please contact our experts in your country for more information about mycotoxin testing.
