Mycotoxin detection kits will soon be available A consortium of researchers and private companies is working to bring a cheap mycotoxin detection kit to market. Health © Thinkstock A wide variety of foods, beverages and feed can be contaminated with mycotoxins, which present a high risk to human and animal health. Mycotoxins are produced by particular fungi and can also cause crop losses. Generally, expensive mycotoxin detection is outsourced to laboratories or companies with the proper expertise and equipment. The EU-funded DEMOTOX (A new device to detect quickly and friendly Ochratoxin A and other myco-toxins in feed, food and beverage) project is further developing two mycotoxin sensor prototypes created as part of other EU-funded research projects. This project aimed to test the prototypes in preparation for the commercial market. EU research centres that developed the initial prototypes first transferred the intellectual property to the companies involved. Two of these companies redesigned every aspect of the prototype devices in preparation for more thorough testing. DEMOTOX established the protocols and benchmarks needed for industrial testing. The consortium also identified potential end users of the device, and recruited these companies to help validate the new prototypes. Twenty copies of each of these two prototypes have been manufactured. One works on a chemical identification system and the other uses a bioassay. Researchers distributed these prototypes to the identified companies for testing. This testing revealed that the chemical detection system is much more sensitive than the bioassay, although both are sensitive enough for commercial use. Beyond the practical aspects of the project, DEMOTOX completed a market analysis and an evaluation of potential competitors. Ultimately, this consortium hopes to bring a cheap and innovative mycotoxin sensor device to market in the EU. Keywords Mycotoxin, detection kit, DEMOTOX, feed, food, beverage
