Swifter
fusarium test for grain
Source
of Article: http://www.foodproductiondaily.com/Quality-Safety/Swifter-fusarium-test-for-grain
By Mike Stones, 10-Apr-2009
A new weapon in the war against
fusarium species in grain received approval recently from the US national
grain inspection system.
The ROSA Fumonisin
Quantitative test kit, from diagnostic test manufacturer Charm Sciences,
is the first lateral flow quantitative test to be approved for official
testing of fumonisin. Claimed to be the fastest test available for
fumonisin, Charm’s detection kit is said to deliver economical, accurate
results from a 10-minute assay time.
Comprising a detection system in a single strip,
quantitative readings and a detection range from 0 to 6 ppm provide
accurate results to comply with both domestic and export testing
standards.
“The Charm ROSA Fumonisin Quantitative Test helps ensure the safety of
the food chain by enabling growers, processors and regulators to validate
that grain and feed conform to specified or recommended
limits for fumonisin,” said Mark Tess, mycotoxin
product manager at Charm Sciences.
Toxic feed syndrome
Fumonisins are produced by naturally occurring
mycotoxin fusarium moulds including F. verticillioides and F.
proliferatum. These toxins have been linked to human esophageal cancer,
equine leukoencephalomalacia and toxic feed syndrome in poultry, and
pulmonary edema in pigs. Fumonisin B1 is a mycotoxin produced by the
fungus Fusarium moniliforme, one of the major species found in corn.
The ROSA Fumonisin Quantitative kit is the tenth
Charm mycotoxin test to receive approval from United States Department of
Agriculture’s Grain Inspection Packers and Stockyards Association
(GIPSA).
After evaluating the test GIPSA concluded that: “The
test kit underwent an initial Type Evaluation…and was found to meet all
the design and test performance criteria…for Fumonisins B1, B2 and B3.”
All ROSA mycotoxin tests can be run on the same
equipment and follow a similar assay format. This provides an efficient
and economical way to detect and quantify mycotoxins in feed and grain,
according to Charm Sciences.
Maize-based food
As assessment of fumonisins from the British
Food Standards Agency warns of their high toxicity: “Fumonisin
mycotoxins frequently occur in maize that is intended for food production
in the UK. These mycotoxins are regularly detected in maize-based foods.
Quantitative analysis of these toxins is difficult, with analytical
results prone to vary between laboratories, sometimes by orders of
magnitude.
“It is important that the methods used for the
surveillance of mycotoxins give an accurate measure of the amount of that
mycotoxin in the raw material or foods tested, so that people's exposure
to that toxin can be determined accurately and managed. “
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