Ochratoxin A in cereals and the BCR-M&T-projects.

Reliable analytical procedures and certified reference materials are essential for the establishment and enforcement of tolerance levels for ochratoxin A in foods. The inadequacy of analytical procedures, together with the need for certified reference materials, led the Commission of the European Communities Community Bureau of Reference (BCR) to undertake a project to prepare suitable reference materials for ochratoxin A in wheat, in order to improve methodology and to harmonise agreement of results between member states. The first intercomparison study indicated problems in the analysis due to the influence of co-extractives in the matrix, and demonstrated that further work was necessary to improve recovery, clean-up and reproducibility. The second intercomparison study, in the EC Measurements and Testing Programme, correlated the performance of the different methods for ochratoxin A measurement in a separate batch of contaminated wheat, and compared novel immunoaffinity column methods with the standard laboratory methods. Results were obtained from 26 laboratories within 11 European countries, which therefore gives a good representation of the scope of methods currently used in Europe. Considerable improvements in the determination of ochratoxin A were noted compared with the first intercomparison study.