With cases of mycotoxin contamination on the increase globally, grain producers and traders need to find ways to effectively monitor their supplies to avoid costly, and potentially fatal, problems.

Mycotoxins, a toxic secondary metabolite produced by fungi, represent a severe threat to human and animal health, and can result in significant financial loss from spoilt crops and refusal at destination ports.

One infected kernel of corn in a 1kg sample can produce toxin levels which exceed permitted levels. This means, a small amount of contaminated corn is sufficient to turn an entire Panamax shipment into an unsafe and unusable commodity.

With traditional laboratory analysis and strict threshold-based regulations proving costly and error-prone, grain producers and traders need an effective early warning system.

SGS Mycotoxin Monitoring Program

Covering ten south east European countries, and working in line with the requirements for certification schemes including GMP+, OVOCOM, GTP (Cocerial), AIC, EFISC, and QS, our mycotoxin monitoring program provides an effective early warning notification system and risk mitigation tool. It covers Aflatoxin (B1 and total), Ochratoxin, Deoxynivalenol, Zearalenone, Fumonisins, and HT-2/T-2.

Samples are collected under GAFTA rules and analyzed, using LC-MS/MS and HPLC. A minimum of 38 samples are carried out in each country, with 15-20% being taken from standing crops just before they are harvested. The rest are taken two to four months after harvesting, depending on conditions/situation in a country, either from the first collection point or during transhipment.

Screening data is sent weekly to subscribers, who will also receive aggregated statistics for each country and even special alerts when high level contamination is detected. SGS's mycotoxin monitoring program gives subscribers all the information they need to minimize the potential for risk to their businesses.

For further information, please contact:

Gennadiy Shulga
Vice President Business Development
t: +41 78 604 32 63

About SGS

SGS is the world's leading inspection, verification, testing and certification company. SGS is recognized as the global benchmark for quality and integrity. With more than 90,000 employees, SGS operates a network of over 2,000 offices and laboratories around the world.

SGS SA published this content on 28 July 2017 and is solely responsible for the information contained herein.
Distributed by Public, unedited and unaltered, on 28 July 2017 07:38:00 UTC.

Original documenthttp://www.sgs.com/en/news/2017/07/mycotoxins-contamination-monitoring-managing-contamination-risk-in-the-supply-chain

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