Mycotoxins and plant toxins in food and feed

Mycotoxins and plant toxins in food and feed

As part of the EU network of Reference Laboratories, we take pride in our role as the NRL for mycotoxins and plant toxins in food and feed, operating under the framework of Regulation (EU) 2017/625 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 15 March 2017 on official controls and other official activities performed to ensure the application of food and feed law, rules on animal health and welfare, plant health and plant protection products.

Mycotoxins, produced by moulds, and plant toxins, originating from plants, are natural contaminants that can be present in food and feed. Consuming these toxins above certain levels may lead to adverse health effects in both animals and humans, including acute poisoning. While their presence is undesirable due to toxicity, their natural occurrence makes complete avoidance impossible and often makes reducing levels challenging. To protect the consumers and animal health, various EU legislation establish the maximum levels of mycotoxins and plant toxins in food and feed.

At Wageningen Food Safety Research, we monitor the prevalence of these toxins through comprehensive research. This includes the analysis of both regulated and emerging mycotoxins, such as aflatoxins (AFL), ochratoxin A (OTA), deoxynivalenol (DON), fumonisins (FB), zearalenone (ZON), patulin (PAT), T-2/HT-2 toxins, citrinin (CIT), alternaria toxins, and ergot alkaloids (EA). For plant toxins, our focus extends to pyrrolizidine alkaloids (PA), tropane alkaloids (TA), glycoalkaloids (GA), quinolizidine alkaloids (QA), opium alkaloids (OA), cannabinoids (THC(A)), and cyanogenic glycosides (CNG), among others.

Specific expertise in the analyses of mycotoxins and plant toxins

Our team possesses specific expertise in analysing mycotoxins and plant toxins in a wide variety of food and feed commodities using analytical chemistry techniques. In addition to our analytical capabilities, we excel in various areas, including interpreting legislation, set up sampling procedures, method development, improvement, validation, and quality control. We also provide expertise in quality assurance for Official Laboratories (OLs), identification of emerging risks, and offer scientific and technical support to competent authorities.