Ochratoxin A in cereals and the BCRxs-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 imporve 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. © 1995 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.