With multi-mycotoxin contamination becoming a global issue, mycotoxin management is crucial to protecting herd health and reducing economic losses. Randox Food Diagnostics screening solutions can detect up to 9 mycotoxins simultaneously from a single sample, providing a crucial component of a mycotoxin management program.
Applications Manager
Randox Food Diagnostics Ltd.
Mycotoxin management is crucial to protecting herd health, as contaminated feed can have a significant impact on the health and productivity of animals. When cattle consume feed contaminated with mycotoxins, they may experience a range of issues, including reduced milk production, reproductive problems, and weakened immune systems. For example, aflatoxin B1 concentrations above 120 ppb in dairy feeds has been shown to cause a 25% drop in milk production. Mycotoxins can also cause acute or chronic illness, leading to weight loss, diarrhoea, and in severe cases death. Additionally, mycotoxins can compromise the quality of milk and meat produced by cattle, posing a risk to human health.
Multi-mycotoxin contamination is becoming a global issue, which can be seen in the 2022 DSM World Mycotoxin Survey. Of the 27,297 samples analysed, 57% were found to be contaminated with more than one mycotoxin. Specifically, North America, South America, China, and Taiwan’s risk of mycotoxins were classified as ‘extreme’ by the survey. With the rise in occurrence of multi-mycotoxin contamination in crops, this issue can be seen in animal feed as well. Research in European countries found that 75–100% of the feed samples they analysed contained more than one mycotoxin.
Preventing mycotoxin contamination is almost impossible, however it is necessary for producers to implement a comprehensive mycotoxin management program to moderate these risks along the animal feed supply chain. To mitigate the effects of mycotoxins and as part of a mycotoxin management program, it is important to regularly screen feed for mycotoxins.
The economic costs and impact on the international trade associated with mycotoxin contamination are difficult to assess. There have been estimations of economic losses associated with mycotoxin contamination in animal feed, corn and other crops. These estimations range from hundreds of millions to billions of USD annually and are a combination of market, livestock and crop losses due to ill health and crop spoilage. Overall, the global economic impact of mycotoxins is substantial, and efforts to reduce mycotoxin contamination are important for both economic and public health reasons.
Mycotoxin surveillance is essential for animal health, to reduce economic loss and to ensure feed quality. Mycotoxin surveillance tools such as screening methods can determine which batches are contaminated above regulated levels, helping feed producers manage feed additives and binders to improve the final product.
The need to comply with international mycotoxin regulations for feed and to protect livestock from mycotoxin exposure has necessitated a multi-mycotoxin approach to feed testing. Randox Food Diagnostics Ltd. have developed immunoassay-based Biochip Array Technology (BAT) for the accurate and specific detection of all regulated mycotoxins in a single run. BAT is designed as a mycotoxin detection array and is presented in three formats i.e., Myco 6, Myco 7 and Myco 9 detecting six (6), seven (7) and nine (9) mycotoxins, respectively. The Biochip is a ceramic tile on which antibodies, for each of the mycotoxins, are inter-spaced and spotted on predetermined positions [Discrete Test Regions (DTRs)] on the surface. DTRs enable the accurate identification of the different mycotoxins based on spatial location of each antibody spot. Randox mycotoxin arrays are capable of accurately detecting all regulated mycotoxins i.e., aflatoxins B1,2; G1,2 (AFB), ochratoxin A (OTA), deoxynivalenol (DON), zearalenone (ZEA), fumonisin B1,2,3 (FBs), T2/HT-2 toxin and diacetoxyscirpenol (DAS). In the area of multi-mycotoxin determination in feed, LC-MS/MS is the only other platform capable of simultaneous and quantitative detection. However, this method is expensive in terms of capital, analysis, and maintenance costs.
The performance and proficiency of the Myco 7 Array was successfully validated against a multi-mycotoxin LC-MS/MS method for the accurate detection of up to 7 mycotoxins (Plotan et al., 2016). The Myco 7 Array showed a correlation with LC-MS/MS of 100%, 97%, 100%, 88%, 100% and 103% for AF (B/G), T2/HT-2 Toxin, OTA, ZEA, FBs and DON, respectively. This demonstrates how comparable the Myco 7 Array is to LC-MS/MS with regards to accuracy.
To further prove the performance of the Myco 7 Array on the Evidence Investigator, the Association of American Feed Control Officials (AAFCO) carried out an inter-laboratory collaborative study to validate the reproducibility of the test. This study involved seventeen blind feed samples which were fractionated and shared across nine AAFCO laboratories with each laboratory receiving a set of 17 feed samples. Sibanda et al., 2022, reported the results of the inter-laboratory collaborative study which showed that each laboratory successfully passed this proficiency test formatted round. The results, 99% of them, fell within an acceptable Z-score range of -2|<Z<|+2. The reproducibility co-efficiency of variation was below the 20% set by AAFCO, therefore, meeting set criterion. The ability to test for many mycotoxins in one run, ease of use and the low operational cost implications enabled AAFCO to accept the Myco 7 Array as Fit-for-Purpose for use in the AAFCO control programs for mycotoxins.
Randox Food Diagnostics will be at the World Mycotoxin Forum in Belgium from the 9th – 11th October 2023, visit our booth or contact us to discuss our mycotoxin screening solutions further!
References:
1. Monika Plotan, Raynond Devlin, Jonathan Porter, M. El Ouard Benchikh, María Luz Rodríguez, Ivan McConnell, and S. Peter Fitzgerald (2016). The Use of Biochip Array Technology for Rapid Multi-mycotoxin Screening. Journal of AOAC International, 99(4): 878 – 889.
2. Liberty Sibanda, Kristi McCallum, Monika Plotan, Sharon Webb, Brenda Snodgras, Quinton Muenks, Jonny Porter and Peter Fitzgerald (2022). Interlaboratory collaboration to determine the performance of the Randox food diagnostics biochip array technology for the simultaneous quantitative detection of seven mycotoxins in feed. World Mycotoxin Journal, 15(3): 241-250.
About Dr. Liberty Sibanda
Dr. Liberty Sibanda, having completed his PhD in Pharmaceutical Sciences at Ghent University, has extensive knowledge of the diagnostics industry. An Applications Manager for Randox Food Diagnostics Ltd., Dr. Sibanda has over 20 years of experience developing and marketing mycotoxin test kits and has published numerous papers on the detection of mycotoxins in food and feed.
