Plant Toxins and Mycotoxins Unit

The Plant Toxins and Mycotoxins Unit handles the following tasks:

• Assessment of health risks from mycotoxins in food
• Management of the National Reference Laboratory for Mycotoxins and Plant Toxins in Food and Feed
• Research on improvements to chemical analysis methods, as well as on the occurrence and behaviour of mycotoxins and plant toxins in food and feed

Assessment of health risks from mycotoxins in food

Within the Unit, possible health risks from the occurrence of mycotoxins in food are assessed and published in opinions prepared in accordance with internationally recognised criteria. They are based on the Guidance Document for the Assessment of Health Risks issued by the BfR (PDF file,1.10 MB) (in German)

The opinions serve the following purposes:

• Preparation of independent scientific expert opinions that provide government agencies involved in risk management - such as the German Federal Ministry of Food and Agriculture (BMEL) - with backgrounds in consultations aimed at establishing maximum levels for mycotoxins in food at national and European level
• Deriving recommendations for risk mitigation
• Providing individual case assessments that can be used by the competent authorities to assess the compliance of food products for which no maximum levels for mycotoxins have been set so far

National Reference Laboratory for Mycotoxins and Plant Toxins

The Unit houses the National Reference Laboratory (NRL) for Mycotoxins and Plant Toxins in Food and Feed. As a member of the network of EU Member State reference laboratories and point of contact for the German official control laboratories, this NRL is assigned the following tasks:

• Collaboration with the EU Reference Laboratory (EURL) for Mycotoxins and Plant Toxins
• Forwarding of information from the EURL to the competent German authorities and national official laboratories commissioned to complete analysis assignments as part of statutory food and feed surveillance
• Development and validation of analysis methods for the determination of plant toxins and mycotoxins in food and feed
•  Provision of inter laboratory trials: proficiency tests as well as method validation studies
• Providing scientific and technical support to the competent authorities for the implementation of control programmes, including the regular organisation of NRL workshops as well as participation in expert groups of the National Food Mmonitoring Programme and the National Surveillance Plan (BüP)
• Harmonisation and standardisation of analytical methods, e.g. by participating in bodies of the European Committee for Standardisation (CEN) and the German Institute for Standardization (DIN) or working groups according to § 64 of the German Food and Feed Code (LFGB)

Research

The Unit conducts research projects in collaboration with internal and external partners on the one hand to advance analytical capabilities and on the other hand to address key issues within the field of risk assessment. The main priorities here are as follows:

• Analysis/detection techniques

1. Development of instrumental analytical methods for the determination of plant toxins and mycotoxins, as well as their metabolites and modified forms, in food, feed and biological matrices, by means of high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) and mass spectrometry (MS/MS, HR-MS)
2. Development of (multi-target, suspect-target and non-target) methods for the identification of (novel) plant toxins and mycotoxins as well as potential transformation products, by means of high-resolution mass spectrometry (HR-MS) in combination with statistical procedures

• Mycotoxins and plant toxins in the food chain

1. Occurrence and profiles of plant toxins and mycotoxins in plants, food and feed
2. Studies on the metabolisation of plant toxins and mycotoxins
3. Quantification of the transfer of plant toxins and mycotoxins into food, e.g. via contaminated feed
4. Behaviour of toxins during the processing of food and feed

• Identification of emerging risks

1. Occurrence of novel or negelcted plant toxins and mycotoxins, and their transformation products
2. Prevalence of plant toxins and mycotoxins in increasingly consumed foods (e.g. legumes) and in novel foods (e.g. insects)

• Assessment of health risks

1. Advancement ofapproaches for the assessment of health risks from mycotoxins in food and feed