Fera Science Limited can analyse food or feed samples to measure levels of zearalenone using methods that are fully compliant with EU contaminants legislation. This allows you to assess compliance with the regulatory limits currently in force.

National Reference Laboratory - Mycotoxins and Plant Toxins

Fera is the UK National Reference Laboratory for Mycotoxins and Plant Toxins in Food and Feed, if you would like to know more about the relevant regulations, please follow the link below:

The method used is fully accredited to ISO17025 for food and feed samples using an immunoaffinity column clean-up with HPLC-fluorescence detection. Extraction protocols have been optimised for many different matrices which, which coupled with highly specific clean-up protocols and detection produce results that are fit for purpose, accurate and precise. The method was fully validated by international method validation study by Fera and is the basis of the CEN standard method.

Fusarium fungi, is a class of commonly occurring fungi of northern temperate regions. Many Fusarium species can produce a number of different mycotoxins, one of which is zearalenone, which is commonly found on cereals grown in regions of America, Europe and Asia.

The major fungus responsible for producing zearalenone is Fusarium graminearum and grain infected with this organism will often be pink in color due to a pigment that can be produced by the fungus. However colour alone cannot be used to assess toxin levels in the crop.

Zearalenone is mainly found in maize but can also be found in wheat, barley, sorghum and rye. Fusarium species typically grow and invade crops in moist, cool conditions. In wheat, sorghum and corn, zearalenone occurs in preharvest grain, whereas in other commodities contamination can come from both pre- and post-harvest products. Variations in the incidence of zearalenone will occur with different crop years, cereal crop type and geographical areas.

FC24 - Food Safety Support Tool

A 2 week free trial is available to test out FC24, if you are interested in this, please follow the link below: