Analytik NEWS
Online Laboratory Magazine
03/28/2024

02/15/2011

New reference materials to support dioxin testing of eggs from Germany

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Recent scares relating to dioxin contamination of food and feed products have drawn attention to the need for sufficient testing procedures to ensure food safety.

Eggs, pork and poultry products contaminated with dioxins were potentially distributed worldwide from Germany after several thousand tonnes of contaminated fatty acids intended only for industrial use was discovered in feed for chickens and pigs.

German and European regulatory authorities have said that the levels of dioxin present in food are not dangerous to human health.

Dioxins and polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) are chemicals that can also get into our food from the environment. Long term exposure can cause cancer, or damage to the immune and reproductive systems. Laboratories testing products for the presence of dioxins and other contaminants require reference standards and materials to ensure the accuracy of results, and the validity of their testing methods.

LGC Standards has a comprehensive range of reference materials for the analysis of dioxins, PCBs and related environmental contaminants, to assist testing laboratories. The range has been recently complemented by the addition of dioxin and dioxin-like reference samples from BioDetection Systems (BDS).

BDS DR CALUX® certified reference materials are designed for analysis of food and feed, and are the only reference materials with values around the current EU limits measured by bioassays.

This food safety scandal follows the last dioxin scare in Europe in 2008, when unacceptable levels of the contaminant were found in mozzarella cheese produced in Italy.

Source: LGC Standards