Progress in the accuracy of mycotoxin analysis in the last quarter century

Since food and feedstuffs, such as cereal crops, nuts, spices, dried fruit and fruit juices, can be infected by molds during growth or post harvest handling, mycotoxins can be found as contaminants in these materials. They may be present in food and feed without any obvious sign of fungal growth, thus, for human and animal health, determination of mycotoxin contamination in various agricultural commodities is important. For this purpose, much effort has been made to improve analytical methods for each mycotoxin in different commodities and many analytical methods have been developed for the determination of mycotoxins. Methods used for such analyses have changed over time. For example, fluorescence detection has been used for aflatoxin determination since the 1960’s, however, separation procedures have progressed from TLC to HPLC. Public demand for accuracy of data has been growing and there is therefore a continuing need for laboratories to demonstrate performance and reliability in laboratory analysis. It is now widely accepted that there are three essential elements to laboratory quality assurance. These elements are, use of validated methods, participation in laboratory proficiency testing and accreditation to ISO/IEC 17025. The second of these, proficiency testing is an external check of quality of analysis. It provides an independent and unbiased assessment of the performance of all aspects of laboratory. Since the Vol. 54 (1), 2004 33 Mycotoxins Vol. 54 (1), 2004