Evaluation of Mycotoxin Screening Tests in a Verification Study Involving First Time Users

Area of Science:

• Food safety analysis
• Mycotoxin detection
• Analytical chemistry

Background:

• Accurate detection of mycotoxins like deoxynivalenol (DON) and aflatoxin B₁ (AFB₁) in food commodities is crucial for public health.
• Standardized and validated analytical methods are essential for reliable screening and regulatory compliance.
• Training courses often utilize established screening methods, but their performance by first-time users needs evaluation.

Purpose of the Study:

• To assess the performance of lateral flow devices (LFDs) and liquid chromatography-high resolution mass spectrometry (LC-HRMS) for DON and AFB₁ detection in maize and wheat.
• To determine intermediate precision (RSDip) and false suspect rates for the evaluated analytical methods.
• To confirm that first-time users can achieve performance comparable to established validation studies.

Main Methods:

• Analysis of deoxynivalenol (DON) in wheat using lateral flow devices (LFDs).
• Analysis of aflatoxin B₁ (AFB₁) in maize using liquid chromatography-high resolution mass spectrometry (LC-HRMS).
• Calculation of intermediate precision (RSDip) and false suspect rates based on inter-analyst variability and repeatability.

Main Results:

• Intermediate precision (RSDip) ranged from 6.5% to 30% for DON and 16% to 33% for AFB₁.
• The highest variances were observed in AFB₁ analyses due to lower mass fractions.
• False suspect rates were below 0.1% for all tested methods, demonstrating high specificity.

Conclusions:

• All evaluated methods exhibited a fit-for-purpose performance profile for mycotoxin screening.
• The methods effectively distinguished samples containing analytes at the screening target concentration (STC) from negative controls.
• First-time users achieved method performances consistent with previous validation studies, validating the training course effectiveness.