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Background Many food recalls are related to the presence of undeclared allergens and microorganisms in food products. To reduce these occurrences, portable diagnostic assay kits are available to quantitate mycotoxins, to detect allergens and gluten in foods and on environmental surfaces, and for sanitation monitoring. Objective This article reviews diagnostic kits that can detect sources of contamination in food and ingredients as well as on surfaces and clean-in-place rinses. Method Mycotoxins and gluten were detected using lateral flow diagnostic assays. Sanitation monitoring of surfaces was completed using a chemiluminescent assay to detect adenosine 5′-triphosphate disodium salt hydrate (ATP) and another assay to detect protein. Results Gluten was detected at 10 ppm in spiked commodities and on wet and dry surfaces at 2.5 µg/100cm2. Deoxynivalenol was quantitated in dry distillers grains plus solubles and mean results were within two SDs of those determined by HPLC. The chemiluminescent assay had an LOD of 6 fmol of ATP and was able to detect a 1:10 000 dilution of orange juice from surfaces. The protein assay detected 5 µg of bovine serum albumin (BSA) directly applied to the sampler, 100 µg of BSA on surfaces, and detected 1:10 dilutions of Greek yogurt and raw beef from surfaces. Conclusions Portable diagnostic kits evaluated in this work provided accurate, rapid, and sensitive results for detection of mycotoxins, gluten, proteins, and ATP. These methods can be used in facilities with minimal training and provide results that are important to ensure food safety. Highlights Portable methods to detect gluten, mycotoxins, proteins, and ATP are presented.

Neogen Corp. developed the Veratox R5 Gliadin test kit for the detection of gliadin based on the monoclonal antibody R5 developed by Enrique Mendez (1). The purpose of this study was to validate the method under the requirements of the AOAC Research Institute Performance Tested MethodSM program. There are two AOAC Official MethodsSM for gluten detection in foods, 991.19 and 2012.01 (2), both of which are ELISAs. With the R5 Mendez method listed in the CODEX Alimentarius as a type 1 method for the detection of gluten in foods, the need to have additional rapid test kits validated by the AOAC Research Institute exists.

Neogen Corp. has developed the Neocolumn for Aflatoxin DR for the detection of total aflatoxin by HPLC or solution fluorometry. The purpose of this study was to validate the method under the requirements of the AOAC Research Institute Performance Tested MethodsSM (PTM) program. There are several AOAC Official MethodsSM for detection of total aflatoxin in corn; they consist of rapid and analytical-based methods and two rapid methods (PTMs 030701 and 050901) that have been performance tested by the AOAC Research Institute. A widely used reference method, however, is AOAC Official MethodSM 991.31, which uses immumoaffinity cleanup followed by HPLC or solution fluorometry and is referred to as the reference method in this document. In internal studies, the Neocolumn method coupled with solution fluorometry demonstrated a relative recovery from peanuts of 101.6 of the reference value, with a CV of 3.9 across all levels analyzed; when coupled with HPLC, the Neocolumn method demonstrated a relative recovery from peanuts of 103.0 of the reference value with a CV of 3.5 across all levels analyzed. The Neocolumn method coupled with solution fluorometry demonstrated a relative recovery from corn of 116.9 of the reference value with a CV of 6.1 across all levels analyzed; when coupled with HPLC, the Neocolumn method demonstrated a relative recovery from corn of 91.2 of the reference value, with a CV of 5.4 across all levels analyzed. Calculations were made by comparison with the mean result obtained by the HPLC reference method, which showed respective CV values of 3.9 and 2.0 for recoveries from peanuts and corn, respectively.

Neogen Corp. developed the Veratox aflatoxin test kit for the detection of total aflatoxin. The purpose of this study was to validate the method under the requirements of the AOAC Research Institute Performance Tested MethodsSM (PTM) program. There are several AOAC Official MethodsSM for total aflatoxin detection in corn (994.08, 990.33, 979.18, 993.17, 990.32, 993.16, 991.31, and 990.74), varying between rapid and analytical-based methods and one rapid method that has been performance tested by the AOAC Research Institute (PTM 030701). However, the widely used reference method is AOAC Official MethodSM994.08, which is an HPLC method and is referred to as the reference method in this paper. Although considered the reference method, the HPLC procedure is complicated and requires the investment of both expensive equipment and a highly skilled technician. A rapid (e.g., ELISA) test kit to be validated by the AOAC Research Institute is needed.

Neogen Corp. developed the Veratox DON test kit for the detection of deoxynivalenol (DON). The purpose of this study was to validate the method under the requirements of the AOAC Research Institute Performance Tested MethodsSM (PTM) program. There are two AOAC Official MethodsSM for DON detection: 986.17 and 986.18, the first of which is a TLC method and the second a GC method. A rapid method (PTM 000701) has also been performance tested by the AOAC Research Institute. One of the most widely used reference methods; however, is a GC method with electron capture detection that is referred to as the reference method in this paper. Although considered the reference method, the GC procedure is complicated and requires the investment of both expensive equipment and a highly skilled technician. A rapid (e.g., ELISA) test kit needs to be validated by the AOAC Research Institute. The Veratox 2/3 method is highly reproducible with average CV values 97 correlation to reference methods.

Neogen Corp. has developed an improved Veratox histamine test kit for the detection of histamine in tuna tissue. The purpose of this study was to validate the method under the requirements of AOAC Research Institute (RI) Performance Tested MethodsSM. Three AOAC Official MethodsSM for histamine (954.04, 957.07, and 977.13) and one ELISA method have been performance tested by the AOAC RI. The most popular is AOAC Official MethodSM977.13, the fluorometric method, which is considered the reference method, but is complicated and time-consuming. The need for a rapid ELISA test kit to be validated by the AOAC RI exists.