Aflatoxin kit provides one-stop screening method for 16 commodities
16 commodities, making it easier for food companies to weed out bad
batches of ingredients.
Aflatoxins are a highly toxic poison produced by a mold. It poses a particular problem for stored grain and nuts. Aflatoxin contamination is a major cause of costly food recalls worldwide.
Charm Sciences says its Rosa aflatoxin quantitative test has received approval from the US Department of Agriculture (USDA).
"This sets a new industry benchmark," the company stated. "No other test method has ever received approval for such a comprehensive list of commodities."
The commodities are: corn, corn flour, corn germ meal, corn gluten meal, corn meal, corn screenings, corn soy blend, cracked corn, distillers dried grains, flaking corn grits, milled rice, popcorn, rough rice, sorghum, soybeans and wheat.
The Rosa aflatoxin test procedure includes a sample extraction and 10 minute incubation. A test strip is then inserted into a digital strip reader.
Quantitative results are displayed and recorded on the reader, which has automatic printing and download options. A minimal amount of equipment is required, Charm stated.
"No other test kit offers the speed, simplicity, accuracy and diversity of test commodities," the company stated.
The USDA has issued an official certificate of conformance to Charm, declaring that the test kit "met the accuracy specifications for the listed commodities spiked at fove and 20 parts per billion (ppb). The three ppb limit of detection was also met for all listed commodities."
The company also has aflatoxin test kits for a range of nuts and spices. Methods to detect the presence of other mycotoxins such as ochratoxin, zearalenone and vomitoxin are in development.
