Whenever a leap in technology addresses a long-standing challenge, it is only natural to ask what else it can be used for. This was exactly the case when the MycoFoss™ was launched offering highly consistent multiplex testing of up to six mycotoxins in wheat and maize samples. “It was a great step forward,” says Global Product Manager, Daniela Vega Sampedro, and adds: “But the lack of a test for barley was quickly spotted by quality assurance managers longing for an efficient way to screen for DON and ZEA in incoming deliveries.”
The two mycotoxins are major targets on the radar of feed millers as they can have a catastrophic impact on animal health and performance. As an example, Daniela explains how the tight margins involved in pig farming are sensitive to poor health and reduced growth rates. In some cases, mycotoxin contamination can even lead to death of animals by weakening their immune systems to an extent that they succumb to common microorganisms, parasites, fungi and viruses that would normally be fought off without problem. In this respect, mycotoxins are one of the most immunosuppressive factors in animal diets.
While the ability to perform rapid tests for the presence of mycotoxins is essential for control of food and feed raw materials, the methods available are often limited. They involve complex manual steps such as pipetting, timing, weighing, mixing and shaking, all of which can lead to the risk of human error.
In contrast, the MycoFoss™ is operated at the push of a button. Users simply place a ground sample in the instrument and select the appropriate test on a touch screen display.
In malting, the goal is to avoid the risk of mycotoxins, exceeding the very stringent safety levels in the human food and beverage supply chain. The malting process is especially prone to the formation of mycotoxins and even processes such as distilling cannot kill the hardy mycotoxins. In fact, depending on the malting process, the processing only serves to concentrate the mycotoxins. This increases the risk of exceeding safety limits, hence the need to test certain mycotoxins by law before they enter the malting process.
Built on strong data
Daniela recalls how the development team was well aware of the urgent demand for testing barley with the fully automated equipment, but were also very clear on the need to program the solution to handle barley samples wherever the instruments might be used around the world. As with all analytical technology, having a sufficiently representative pool of data derived from both reference tests and tests with the instrument is the key to accommodating the many seasonal, climate-related and regional variations that can affect the characteristics of samples. “We really did our groundwork collecting real samples from all regions from around the globe and covering different aspects such as toxin ranges and species varieties,” says Daniela.
One solution for wheat, maize and barley
The hard work to build reliable calibrations now means that the MycoFoss can be used for testing of barley at the same level of consistency as for maize and wheat and with the same level of efficiency. Operators just put a sample in the instrument and press start and in less than eight minutes, results for DON and ZEA will be displayed. The fully automated testing also releases staff for other tasks and reduces the risk of human error associated with more manual intensive methods.
What about Ochratoxin A (OTA) and Trichothecene 2 (T-2)?
Test options for OTA and T-2 are also available, but only through consultation with FOSS local representatives. These tests will be available as opt-in experimental models until more work, as described above, is done to build a sufficiently strong data pool based on real samples. Currently, the tests are based on so-called spiked samples where samples are deliberately contaminated. The same level of validation as for the global models cannot therefore be given. These experimental models have nonetheless been made available to provide indicative results and to accelerate the finding of contaminated samples required to finalize the models.
With work ongoing, the breakthrough MycoFoss technology has only just begun to demonstrate its firepower in the ongoing battle to stop the practically indestructible mycotoxins from contaminating of our supply chains. “We can’t kill them, so we have to control them,” concludes Daniela.
