06/03/2009
New certified reference material for mycotoxin analysis
Aflatoxins are naturally-occurring contaminants in food and feed of plant origin, produced by various fungal species. They are potent liver carcinogens and are therefore classified as carcinogenic to humans by the International Agency for Research on Cancer. The certified value for aflatoxin B1 in ERM-BE376 is close to the regulatory limits set in European Directive (EC) No 32/2002 for animal feed, and ERM-BE376 is intended for method validation purposes and for performance control.
The material was produced with naturally incurred raw material, i.e. the production process involved neither a spiking nor a removal step, to resemble a real sample as closely as possible. The certified values are based on an interlaboratory characterisation study. The uncertainties of the certified values include contributions from the characterisation study and from homogeneity and stability assessments. The materials have been processed and certified according to the ISO Guides 34 and 35.
Source: Institute for Reference Materials and Measurements (IRMM)