LAUSR

BACKGROUND Dogs are highly susceptible to aflatoxins, the mycotoxins which most commonly cause acute dog illnesses and deaths following consumption of contaminated food. OBJECTIVE In this study, a screening method to detect aflatoxin B1 (AFB1) in dry dog food was further evaluated at the FDA action level of 20 ng/g. A fourth round multi-laboratory trial was performed. In contrast to the previous work, a different source of dog food was used in the multi-laboratory trial and more participants were involved. METHOD The tested lateral flow method employs a modified procedure of the "Rosa® AFQ-Fast Test Kit" from Charm Sciences Inc. A total of 60 unfortified blank study samples, 220 study samples fortified at 20 ng/g, and 80 study samples fortified at 9-11 ng/g were prepared by an independent party and analyzed in ten collaborating laboratories in a blinded manner. RESULTS The pass rates were 98.3% and 94.5% for unfortified and 20 ng/g fortified study samples, respectively. CONCLUSIONS The method is suitable for aflatoxin B1 screening at the FDA action level of 20 ng/g in a complex matrix such as dry dog food. HIGHLIGHTS This work completes extensive method performance evaluation through four rounds of multi-laboratory trials.