Advanced mycotoxin testing system

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1 Advanced mycotoxin testing system The analytical resource, expertise, cost and time that is invested into the mycotoxin testing of foods is enormous. There are a variety of analytical techniques already in use to meet the stringent standards set by multiple food agencies worldwide. Testing is normally conducted in sophisticated laboratories using High Performance Liquid Chromatography (HPLC; including Liquid Chromatography Mass Spectrometry (LC-MS/MS)), and, much less often, Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay (ELISA). The latter lacks the flexibility of HPLC, is less accurate and is prone to reporting false positives. Although providing a high level of accuracy and precision, HPLC equipment is expensive to purchase and maintain, requires a highly trained operator and requires significant quantities of solvent. Semi-quantitative test kits, aimed at the food-screening market, include fluorometric procedures, Lateral Flow Devices (LFD), and simplified ELISA procedures. There is an urgent need for a simple, affordable, rugged and reliable system that can accurately and rapidly measure mycotoxin levels at every step in the supply chain without the need of a highly trained operator. The benefits of this are significant, derisking the entire process and such an approach, especially when incorporated into a well-designed HACCP plan, can greatly improve the quality of foods by preventing excessive storage time (and the increased risk of mycotoxins production), with results becoming immediately available at the dockside, warehouse and processors doors.

2 Figure 1: Potential Mycotoxin Testing Points in the Food Supply Chain Ray Coker, ToxiMet s founder, CTO and Emeritus Professor of Food Safety at the University of Greenwich, has been working on the development of an appropriate testing method for a number of years. What began as a University project and then became a Spin-out company has now evolved into the fully fledged Kent-based company ToxiMet Ltd. It is here that the company s first product, the ToxiMet System was born. The ToxiMet system comprises three main elements. The first is the ToxiSep TM cartridge that cleans up the sample extracted from the raw commodity. The cleaned-up sample is then loaded into a ToxiTrace TM cartridge, which is inserted for measurement into the ToxiQuant instrument. The ToxiQuant instrument is composed of highly sophisticated, patent protected spectroscopic analysis hardware and proprietary chemometrics algorithms that quantify the toxins. This unique combination delivers outstanding accuracy and precision across the whole regulatory concentration range. The first application of the system is the simultaneous accurate detection of the aflatoxins (B 1, B 2, G 1, G 2 ) in edible nuts at international regulatory levels, in under 10 minutes. The ToxiQuant system has been tailored to the requirements of all participants in the value chain, based on the feedback from development partners, Besana and Voicevale. Producers, traders and nut processors can now comply with the highest food safety standards while rotating their stock much faster and reducing their testing costs.

3 Compact, portable, and extremely robust the unit can fit onto a small bench in a warehouse, or even into the back of a Landrover. It has been designed to operate at up to 50 C, so it can be deployed to the field if required in any of the producing countries in the world. Easy to use, tactile interactive menus use widely recognised icons so that the instrument can be used in every country with no language required. The ToxiQuant interface guides the user through the easy to follow steps, removing the need to remember complicated instructions. Simply place the ToxiTrace cartridge into the ToxiQuant instrument, using the specially designed cartridge holder, and press play to automatically deliver a result in less than 4 minutes. Figure 2: The ToxiQuant Interactive Touch Screen The results of the test are rapidly displayed on the screen, without the need of complex calculations such as in HPLC analysis. The result can be stored, printed, downloaded or deleted. Figures 3: A ToxiTrace TM being loaded into the ToxiQuant The instrument delivers; Simultaneous multi-toxin analysis in a single rapid test Highly sensitive, sub-part per billion measurements HPLC-like accuracy and precision Accurate results at a fraction of the cost of HPLC

4 Easy operation by non-scientists Immediate digital output on screen, no calculations required Applicability at all points throughout the supply chain Accurate results at temperatures up to 50 C Portable instrument that fits into the back of a Landover The ToxiMet System can accurately, precisely, simply, rapidly and affordably measure the level of mycotoxins in edible nuts at the regulatory level to sub parts per billion accuracy. The results are shown in minutes rather than hours or even days and testing can take place outside normal laboratory conditions. It is highly suited for testing across the major agricultural commodity groups nuts, cereals, dried vine fruits, beverages and spices. Figure 4: The ToxiMet System combines the best properties of the currently available testing solutions (i.e. LFD, ELISA & HPLC). Dr. Siro Perez, CEO of ToxiMet says, The ToxiMet system is IP protected technology and is capable of simultaneously measuring multiple toxins in one test. It offers users a highly significant step forward in the measurement and identification of mycotoxins and this new ability to provide real-time, regular testing of the food quality, every time it is to be transported, brings potentially huge commercial and operational benefits to the whole supply chain.

5 For example, importers of commodities currently need to wait up to a week to receive the results of mycotoxin testing from external laboratories. This blocks their warehouse, costing them a lot of money in storage, and moreover, by the time the results are received, it might be that the shipment has become contaminated due to storage at the port-side in humid conditions. Some importers decide to ship to customers before the tests are received, taking ownership of the consignment and thus suffering large losses, should the shipment be found to be contaminated. With a ten minute test available, all these issues immediately disappear; shipping or rejecting 100% of the consignment and de-risking its ownership, by selling-on or rejecting as quickly as possible. The equipment will be fully supported in the field and we will supply all required items such as testing consumables and laboratory ancillaries Figure 4: The ToxiQuant Result Screen A number of other tests will quickly follow, such as ochratoxin A in dried vine fruit, aflatoxins in rice, corn and spices and fusarium toxins in wheat among many others. ToxiMet ( launched the ToxiMet System globally at the XXXI World Nut and Dried Fruit Congress in Singapore in May 2012 and will also be attending Analytica China in Shanghai in October. From a future product perspective the ToxiMet System will enable a whole range of food testing solutions, and beyond that, it provides a technology platform that can be expanded to other applications, for example MRSA testing, where again times could be dramatically reduced from 24-48hrs down to 10 minutes. The ToxiMet System is now available for demonstration at your company. Please see for further information.