Mycotoxins have always been a threat to the safety of food and feed. Just one example is that of the ergot class of mycotoxins whose effects have been felt for many centuries in the form of a disease historically known as St. Anthony’s Fire, or holy fire. This occurred during medieval times with deadly consequences for thousands of victims across Europe.
Today, our understanding and management of mycotoxins has improved immensely, but the threat to our supply chains is far from over. As extreme weather events become increasingly common, mycotoxins have more opportunity to thrive and contaminate our supply chains.
At the front line of human health concerns, flour millers already do much to fight the problem and here in Europe are following European Commission regulations that many consumers in medieval times would have no-doubt appreciated.
Grains designated for human consumption undergo cleaning and milling to yield clean, dehulled kernels, flour, and other products. These are then subjected to thermal and other secondary processing methods which are essential for food safety. Yet given the high consumption rates and the significant risks posed by high contamination levels, cereals and their products are categorized under a distinct product group within EU legislation*. To ensure safer consumption, the EU has revised maximum permissible levels for contaminants such as deoxynivalenol (DON), T2 toxin, zearalenone (ZEA), and fumonisins (European Commission, 2006).
Likewise in feed milling, the presence of mycotoxins such as aflatoxins above certain concentrations impacts the whole supply chain. Too high levels of mycotoxins can cause significant health issues for animals, and they can potentially transfer mycotoxins from feed to animal and finally to the end products consumed by humans.
While measures such as adapting growing and harvesting strategies can help to mitigate the risk, the strongest tool that we currently have at our disposal to manage the risk from mycotoxins is the systematic testing and rejection of contaminated grain.
From individual manual tests to fully-automated multiplex
Despite the critical importance of testing for mycotoxins, the methods available to grain and feed millers have, until recently, been quite limited. Reference methods are time-consuming and costly while alternatives for rapid testing are often characterized by many manual steps such as pipetting, timing, weighing, mixing and shaking. Such manual steps include the risk of human error or irregularities that create doubt about accuracy and the repeatability of results.
In recent years, the development of a new, fully-automated test procedure has freed-up time in laboratories while making tests more consistent, as users of the new equipment report.
The laboratory at the De Heus grain receival facility in Veghel, the Netherlands is a model of efficiency into which the new automated analyzer acquired in 2022 fits perfectly. Called the MycoFoss™, it is a simple to use unit that tests up to six mycotoxins in one go within eight minutes. Users just place a ground sample in the instrument and press start and then return to see the results displayed on a touch screen interface.
This provides both the desired prompt and precise results with a minimum of manual labor.
Laboratory manager Rowan Bosch explains, why time and high accuracy are crucial criteria: “If there is something wrong [with the sample], we can do something about it. Otherwise, it is already in the animal, and then we have a problem.” He describes how the main focus is on aflatoxin but also in others such as DON, T2, Ochra and others. It is here that the multiplexing aspect adds value. “Now we can focus on more and that brings more quality to the raw materials,” he adds.
Fully automated singleplex and multiplex test options for mycotoxin testing
MycoFoss™ combines a number of existing and newer technologies for singleplex and multiplex tests on wheat, barley and maize. The patented measurement uses the well-known immune assay method in combination with sophisticated artificial-intelligence software. Individual mycotoxin cells are singled-out and given a fluorescent marker. They are then passed through a capillary tube for counting using established flow cytometry techniques of which FOSS is highly experienced. Online support helps to maintain performance of instruments while connectivity ensures efficient data management and consistent testing across populations of instruments and locations.
Another MycoFoss user enjoying the benefits of the automated approach is Agravis in Fürstenwalde Germany. The site stores around 280,000 tons of grain and oil seed and produces about 350,000 tons of compound feed per year. The deliveries come from all over Brandenburg or from the adjacent federal states of Saxony, Saxony-Anhalt, Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania and from Poland.
“Compared to the normal methods, we are now able to determine six mycotoxins automatically,” says site manager, Uwe Bucksch. “Using the MycoFoss has significantly shortened sample processing time, as we no longer have to manually process the sample. We process around 4000 samples a year with the MycoFoss and are very happy with it.”
Protecting feed is protecting food
The Comazoo animal feed cooperative in Northern Italy is also keeping the new technology busy testing maize destined for dairy feed. The feed plant is located close to the major cheese-producing areas of Grana Padano and Parmigiano Reggiano. The presence of aflatoxins in the corn used in feed for dairy cows is therefore a major worry as it can lead to contamination of milk and ultimately the cheese made from it. And since hot and humid weather tends to help the fungi causing the mycotoxins, the problem of aflatoxin contamination is only getting worse as the effects of climate change continue to reveal themselves.
Laboratory manager Roberta Benini explains, why Comazoo has set strict controls beyond those of industry standards and how a new fully-automated testing solution allows them to reliably and consistently test all incoming materials. “We have internal limits that are even lower than the legal limits,” she says. “For dairy cows, we consider that the presence should not exceed two parts per billion.”
Just like the other sites around Europe using MycoFoss, the automation of testing is proving critical in protecting the supply chain at such a high level. As Benini reports, different operators can perform reliable tests with high repeatability because all they need to do is pop in a sample, press start and then come back to read the results.
*European Commission. (2006). European Commission Regulation No. 1881/2006 of 19 December 2006 setting maximum levels for certain contaminants in foodstuffs. Official Journal of European Union, L364, 5–24.
