USDA-FGIS Approves Renewal and Awards 5-Year Contract for Aflatoxin Test

Charm Sciences, Inc. announces that the United States Department of Agriculture’s Federal Grain Inspection Service (USDA-FGIS) has renewed the usage of the ROSA AFQ-WETS5 Aflatoxin Quantitative Test. This lateral flow test was first approved in 2014, again in 2017, and is reapproved for the detection of aflatoxin in barley, brown rice, corn, DDG, DDGS, hominy, sorghum, soybeans, and wheat.

Mark Tess, Ph.D., Mycotoxin Product Manager at Charm states, “Charm Sciences is pleased to announce the re-approval of the ROSA WET-S5 Aflatoxin Quantitative Test”. “The certification marks the third approval of this test kit, which shows that the market favors water-based testing and continued success of lateral flow technology to test for aflatoxin.”

Charm was also awarded a five year contract from the USDA-FGIS to use the AFQ-WETS5 test to monitor aflatoxin in grains. USDA-FGIS operates and oversees official grain inspection services throughout the United States and will use the AFQ-WETS5 test for official aflatoxin testing. USDA-FGIS used the AFQ-WETS5 test for aflatoxin over the last five years as well.

“Charm Sciences is excited to be awarded the aflatoxin contract for another five years to test grains in the FGIS’s testing program,” said Dr. Tess. “The AFQ-WETS5 test is FGIS approved for 9 commodities and the 5-minute incubation time allows for rapid measurement to meet the demands of the program.”

The AFQ-WETS5 test utilizes Charm’s patented Rapid One Step Assay (ROSA) technology to extract aflatoxin from the sample without organic solvents. Like all of Charm’s ROSA mycotoxin tests, the AFQ-WETS5 test can be read and recorded using the all-in-one Charm EZ-M System. The Charm EZ-M System allows incubation and analysis with the same equipment and is robust enough that tests can be run at the point of receiving.