Food safety is an important concern that includes handling, preparation and storage of food ingredients in ways that prevent poisoning. Unhealthy food creates a cycle of disease and malnutrition that affects infants and adults as well. Foods can be contaminated by microorganisms such as bacteria, viruses, parasites or fungi. There are specific bacteria which are the primary causes of foodborne diseases; among them: 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 introduced to protect plants and animals from pests and diseases could later unintentionally result in contamination of the food products derived from these sources (e.g. mycotoxins, heavy metals or persistent organic pollutants).

The necessity to determine pathogenic organisms and their toxins serves as a fundamental requirement to guarantee the safety and quality of our food supplies. Detection methods with enhanced sensitivity and rapid results are a prerequisite to achieve efficient tests.

Fermentek supports customers globally with a wide range of food-safety related products to ensure the integrity of customers’ needs. Our food safety testing materials can be used for determination of contaminants or toxins. Also, our test procedure can determine and quantify adulterants, hazardous chemicals or pathogens present in food that can have a dangerous influence on human health.

Food Safety Related Products

Food-safety related products produced by Fermentek include natural toxins which may occur in foodstuffs and standard "ready to use" solutions (Mycotoxin Standards) of toxins containing known accurate amounts in commonly used solvents. The standard solutions serve as quantitatively reliable samples of the toxic materials, which can be compared to tested samples of food by conventional analytical methods.

Mycotoxin Food Safety Standards

Fermentek is a global leader in the production of certified Mycotoxin reference materials for food safety labs and for R&D use. Mycotoxins are toxic fungal metabolites that may appear in food and feed as a result of fungal infection of crops such as cereals, dried fruit and many other agricultural products.

Accurate analysis of Mycotoxins depends upon the use of certified Mycotoxin standard reference materials used for calibration and validation of food safety analytical instruments and methods. High quality standards, calibrants, and reference materials are a prerequisite for valid results in any such analysis.

Among the regulated Mycotoxins offered by Fermentek are: Aflatoxin B1, B2, G1, G2, M1, M2, Aflatoxicol, Aphidicolin, Citrinin, Cytochalasin, Deoxynivalenol (DON), HT-2 toxin, Fumonisin, Fusarenon X, Gliotoxin, Nivalenol, Ochratoxin, Patulin, Sterigmatocystin, T2 Toxin, Tentoxin, and Zearalenone.