Glossary
The terms appearing in standards, methods and reports, explained in one place.
Glossary
- Maximum level (ML)
- Statutory upper limit for a contaminant in food or animal feed. Established for mycotoxins in Regulation (EU) 2023/915 (food) and Directive 2002/32/EC (feed); the value applies per kilogram of product.
- MRL
- Maximum residue limit: the statutory upper limit for residues of plant protection products or veterinary medicinal products. An MRL does not apply to mycotoxins; a maximum level applies instead.
- Guidance value
- Recommended value for animal feed. Not a legally binding standard, but a value on which enforcement and HACCP are based; exceedance requires action and communication.
- Unprocessed cereals
- Cereals placed on the market prior to first-stage processing. Cleaning, sorting and colour sorting do not constitute first-stage processing as long as the grain kernel remains intact.
- Aggregate sample
- The combined total of all incremental samples taken from a lot or sublot. The size and number of incremental samples are prescribed in Regulation (EU) 2023/2782.
- Screening
- Rapid method providing an indication of whether a substance is present above a specific threshold. Suitable for intake and process monitoring, not for formal legal evidence.
- Confirmatory analysis
- Method involving separation and structure-based identification, typically LC-MS/MS or HPLC. Required in the event of rejection, dispute or official enforcement.
- Limit of quantification (LOQ)
- The lowest concentration that can be reliably quantified. For mycotoxins in food, the criterion is an LOQ of at most half the maximum level.
- Measurement uncertainty
- The range around an analytical result. A lot is only rejected if the result, corrected for recovery and measurement uncertainty, exceeds the standard.
- Recovery
- The percentage of the applied concentration recovered by the method. Regulation (EU) 2023/2782 typically requires 70–120 %.
- FGIS
- Federal Grain Inspection Service, the US grain inspection agency. FGIS approval reflects US commercial trade practice, not European legal validity.
- WET
- Water Extraction Technology: extraction using a powder and water instead of methanol. Safer and simpler, but not validated for every matrix.
- Lateral flow
- Test format in which a liquid flows across a strip containing antibodies. The colour intensity is a measure of the concentration; a reader makes the result quantitative.
- DON
- Deoxynivalenol, a trichothecene produced by Fusarium. Causes feed refusal and emesis; the standard varies considerably by animal species and regime.
- T-2/HT-2
- Two related trichothecenes, predominantly in oats and barley. Subject to statutory maximum levels in food for the first time since 1 July 2024.
- Zearalenone
- A Fusarium toxin with oestrogenic activity. Particularly critical in pigs; the feed value for piglets is a factor of ten lower than for cattle.
- Fumonisin
- A toxin produced by Fusarium, predominantly in maize. Horses are highly sensitive; the feed value for horses is therefore much lower than for cattle.
- Ochratoxin A
- A toxin from Aspergillus and Penicillium, primarily a storage issue. The feed value will become five times more stringent as of 2027.
- EZ Receiver
- Software from MCS Diagnostics that receives results from Charm readers, evaluates them against the threshold per product, facilitates approval and transmits them to the LIMS.