Mycotoxins are one of those topics that many would prefer just “goes away.”  For years, it has been researched, discussed, legislated, evaluated and tested by everyone from seed experts to end users.  But it has most definitely not gone away. In the past 5 to 10 years, external factors such as extreme weather events and increasing international regulations are also factors for mycotoxins in wheat and barley.  What’s next? 

Enter - Multi-mycotoxin testing.  In the past decade the use of LCMSMS for mycotoxins has increased dramatically.  This multi-toxin panel has changed the way data is reviewed for many matrices. In the past, samples analyzed by HPLC or GC were specific for one, or perhaps up to three mycotoxins. The contamination levels for a specific crop year were generalized on those toxins, and samples were rarely submitted for much else besides DON, or perhaps the Acetyl versions of DON. The tandem mass spectroscopy methods have changed that focus. Most samples that enter our facility at Trilogy are analyzed for multiple toxins with every run. Our methods quantify each of the toxins we report, however other methods in the industry will analyze for 200+ mycotoxins, perhaps not with quotation, but with simply a reportable level detected. This changes the playing field for international trade, and for the general parameters of the products.  Toxins that were never a concern prior to LCMSMS are now being found and reported with multi-toxin methods. 

Are all the reported toxins found at a level of concern for food and feed safety? Is more data “better data”?  What mycotoxins are found in areas and levels that pose new concerns? Many of these questions are now front and center of discussions, trade regulations, and quality topics. Let’s explore what these methods have found. What mycotoxins of concern may truly be, and what a good take away from this new technology and testing can give us as an industry.