Feed additives : annual report 2009 of the National Reference Laboratory

This report of the National Reference Laboratory (NRL) for feed additives describes the activties employed in 2010. The main tasks of the NRL are: giving assistance to the European Union Reference Laboratort (EU-RL) on their request and advice and support the competent authority, the Dutch Ministry of Economic Affairs, Agriculture and Innovation - Department of Food, Animal and Consumer (EL&I-VDC

Dutch survey pyrrolizidine alkaloids in animal forage

Pyrrolizidine alkaloids (PAs) are secondary plant metabolites produced by a number of plants from the Asteraceae (Compositae), Boriginaceae and Fabaceae (Leguminosae) families. Many of these alkaloids have been shown to be highly toxic, causing hepatic veno-occlusive disease (VOD), liver cirrhosis and ultimately death. PAs may have also mutagenic and carcinogenic potential. Amongst livestock, cattle and horses are especially susceptible to the toxic effects of the PAs. Humans may also be at risk by the consumption of milk of livestock fed with PA-contaminated forage. At RIKILT - Institute of Food Safety a (semi)quantitative method based on liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS) for the determination of PAs in animal feeds has been developed and validated. This method comprises 40 macrocyclic PAs (including tertiary amines and N-oxides) representative for ragwort species. The method has been used for the analysis of 147 forage samples collected in 2006-2008

Tropane alkaloids in food

A large number of wild and cultured plants produce secondary metabolites that are toxic to humans and animals. Through accidental or intentional mixing of these plants with normal food and feed the consumers of these products will be exposed to the toxins. In this report tropane alkaloids will be discussed

Proficiency test for antibiotics in beef

The aim of this proficiency study was to give laboratories the possibility to evaluate or demonstrate their competence for the analysis of antibiotics in bovine tissues, including the screening analysis. This study also provided an evaluation of the methods applied for screening and quantitative and confirmatory analysis of antibiotics in beef

Food and feed safety aspects of cisgenic crop plant varieties

This report presents the results of the discussions that identified food and feed safety aspects of cisgenic plant varieties in comparison to conventional varieties on the one hand and transgenic plant varieties on the other hand. It was concluded that on the basis of the general characteristics of cisgenic plant varieties, there is, from a food and feed safety perspective, no scientific basis for a general reduction of requirements for cisgenic crop plant varieties

Cumulative Exposure Assessment of Triazole Pesticides

In the EFSA opinion on identification of new approaches to assess cumulative and synergistic risks from pesticides to human health a tiered approach for cumulative risk assessment has been proposed. The first tier is a deterministic approach using average and large portion consumption statistics. The higher tiers include probabilistic exposure assessment and Benchmark Dose (BMD) modeling. The aim of this study is to demonstrate the feasibility and applicability of a higher tier assessment of cumulative exposure using probabilistic modeling in combination with the relative potency factor (RPF) approach. The RPFs are used to weigh the toxicity of each pesticide relative to the toxicity of a chosen index compound (pesticide). In this report the authors address both the short-term and long-term cumulative exposure to triazoles using different statistical model

Proficiency test for antibiotics in bovine muscle

The aim of this proficiency study was to give laboratories the possibility to evaluate or demonstrate their competence for the analysis of antibiotics in bovine muscle, including the screening analysis. This study also provided an evaluation of the methods applied for screening and quantitative confirmatory analysis of antibiotics in bovine muscle