Evaluation of test kits for the determination of aflatoxins in meat products.

A study was conducted to evaluate the performance of 4 different assays for rapidly screening samples of artificially contaminated hams and salami for the presence of aflatoxins (B1+B2+G1+G2) at concentrations ≥5 µg/kg. Test samples were contaminated in the range of 0 - 100µg/kg.At 0 µg/kg level no false positive (all <5 µg/kg) were found for all commodities by the kits tested; all test samples spiked at level >20 µg/kg were found positive by each kit, while most of the errors associated in the assays occurred on samples containing <10µg/kg. For samples either negative or contaminated above 20µg/kg all the methods were suited for use as rapid screening tests.