View Report Details

Assessment and validation of a commercial rapid qualitative assay (MIST ALERT tm) for detection of amnesic and paralytic shellfish poisons in the UK monitoring programme and as an end-product test

Project Code: B04006

01/11/2012

Fisheries Research Services
Smith, E

The aim of this study was to validate the MIST Alert ^TM kits for use in UK monitoring programmes and evaluate their ease of use by non-scientific staff in field situations (e.g., at shellfish farms and processors). It is thought that the use of a field test could supplement monitoring and end-product testing by providing an additional level of food safety through the use of testing at the ‘farm gate’.

Results from this study suggest MIST Alert ^TMor PSP could be used as a screen to eliminate negative and low PSP toxicity shellfish samples from routine monitoring programmes. This could reduce the number of standard monitoring tests required by up to 50 %. The kit also has potential to be used within the shellfish industry, if used as a harvest management tool in the field; MIST Alert ^TM could improve the economics of shellfish harvesting by preventing the harvest of contaminated product. MIST AlertTM for ASP is too sensitive to use as a screen for some shellfish, for example king scallops. However, it is possible that the kit may be used more effectively for the detection of ASP toxins in other shellfish species and could be used as an end-product test, this should be studied further.

Final report

Some of the files on this site may be in a format that your computer can't read. However, you can download Readers and Viewers for the following document types below: