Lower mycotoxin limits and a required limit of quantification
Deoxynivalenol limits have gone down and T-2 and HT-2 toxins in cereals now have their own values. The method must detect at least twice as low as the limit itself.
- The EU has lowered the maximum levels for deoxynivalenol — one of the most common cereal mycotoxins.
- For the first time, limits for T-2 and HT-2 toxins in cereals and cereal products have been introduced.
- The rules on sampling and methods require the limit of quantification to be no higher than half the maximum level — when the level goes down, the method has to go down with it.
- Aflatoxins are treated most strictly: for their sum, quantification goes down to 1 µg/kg, and in food for infants to 0.1 µg/kg.
- At those levels the result is decided by sample preparation and reagent purity, not by the measurement itself.
- For a food laboratory this means revalidating methods, checking recovery and uncertainty at the new concentrations, and often replacing affinity columns or moving to a more sensitive detector.
- A batch that used to fit within the limit may now exceed it, so the number of control tests before goods are placed on the market goes up.
Source: Komisja Europejska