Natural toxins are poisonous secondary metabolites produced by living organisms, which although typically not harmful to the organisms themselves, can impact on human or animal health when consumed. Thus, food safety is an important concern all over the world.
Food safety is an area that deals with the handling, preparation, and storage of food in ways that prevent food poisoning. Foods can be contaminated by microorganisms such as bacteria, viruses, fungi or algae. There are specific bacteria which are the primary causes of foodborne diseases; among them are Escherichia coli, Salmonella enterica, Campylobacter jejuni, Staphylococcus aureus, Listeria monocytogenes, and Bacillus cereus. These microbes might have been present before the food was harvested or collected, or they could have been introduced during handling or preparation. Pesticides and veterinary drugs are introduced to protect plants and animals from pest and diseases which later result in unintentional contamination of the food supply chain products from these plants and animals (e.g. mycotoxins, heavy metals or persistent organic pollutants).
There are regulatory demands which guarantee the safety and quality of our food supplies. To comply with those regulatory requirements and to guarantee the safety and quality of our food sources, an accurate determination of pathogenic organisms and their harmful toxins is a prerequisite demand. Various high-throughput analytical chemistry methods with enhanced sensitivity and rapid results are used in the analysis processes (ELISA, EFLA, HPLC etc.) and possess a wide-ranging food safety implication.
Fermentek's Food Safety Products
Fermentek support customers worldwide with a wide range of high standard food safety related products to ensure the integrity of our customers. Our food safety standard materials can be used for the determination and quantification of harmful toxins, hazardous chemicals or pathogens contaminating food and can have a dangerous influence on human health, at very low concentrations. Fermentek focuses mainly on the production of the most potent natural toxins, particularly mycotoxins. These toxins are produced as a pure solution (standard solution) or as a solid crystalline substance.
