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Development, validation and harmonisation of screening and confirmatory tests to distinguish zeranol abuse from fusarium toxin contamination in food animals

Objectif

Zeranol is a non-steroidal oestrogenic growth promoter. It increases liveweight gain in food animals following implantation. The use of zeranol for growth promotion in food animals was banned in the EU in 1985. All Member States have been required, since 1986, to establish National Surveillance Schemes to monitor animals for possible abuse of banned substances, including zeranol.

The central objective of this proposal is to improve reagents and procedures for the technical implementation of Community policy on the prohibition of the use of zeranol as an anabolic agent in food animal production.

The ability of Member States to implement the terms of Council Directive 96/23/EEC has been compromised by recent reports from New Zealand, and elsewhere, showing that zeranol occurs naturally in urine and bile taken from cattle and sheep. The New Zealand study suggested that naturally occurring Fusarium spp. toxins could be metabolised to zeranol.

Enforcement of the ban on zeranol has been further compromised by similar reports of naturally occurring zeranol from several National and Community Reference Laboratories in the EU.

These findings prevent the smooth implementation of Council Directive 96/23/EEC because:
1. all current immunochemical screening tests exhibit crossreactivity to a greater or lesser extent with zearalenone, alpha-zearalenol and ß-zearalenol - the three principal toxins formed by the Fusarium spp. fungi. These screening assays will therefore show "positive" results in all samples containing these toxins, irrespective of whether zeranol itself is actually present or not.
2. confirmatory analysis will prove whether zeranol is present or not. But, GC-MS will not prove whether it is natural in origin.
3. there are no criteria to differentiate zeranol abuse from contamination in meat from 3rd country imports into the EU. The increasing financial penalties being imposed on offending producers throughout the EU as a result of the implementation of Council Directive 96/23/EEC makes it essential that a proper decision is reached by competent national authorities. This project directly addresses Objective 4.22 of the workprogramme. It will answer the three problems posed above by:
1. the development of a rapid, specific immunochemical screening test that will specifically detect and quantify zeranol alpha-zearalenol and ß-zearalenol, separately and simultaneously, in a single sample;
2. identifying those food species that are capable of metabolising Fusarium spp. toxins to zeranol; the provision of quantitative criteria to differentiate between zeranol abuse and natural environmental contamination in susceptible species by measurement of concentrations of zeranol and the Fusarium spp. toxins in body fluids; and
3. the provision of quantitative criteria to differentiate between zeranol abuse and natural environmental contamination with zeranol by measurement of concentrations of zeranol and the Fusarium spp. toxins in tissues, facilitating monitoring of 3rd country imports into the EU.

The proposed network of researchers has been established in an attempt to harmonise diverse skills and expertise within the EU to address these objectives. There will be significant technology transfer that will enhance the ability of all Member States to monitor zeranol abuse and that will harmonise testing programmes for zeranol throughout the EU.

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THE QUEEN'S UNIVERSITY OF BELFAST
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Stoney Road, Stormont
BT4 3SD BELFAST
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