Agriculture Reference
In-Depth Information
In operational terms, between 1995 and April 2002, the research of the
nitrofurans "parent compound" was systematically done in biological samples.
During this period, the metabolites of nitrofurans were not investigated, since
a reliable method was not available [9].
An Irish team conducted research to establish a new method, more
accurate in detecting the illegal use of these substances; project FoodBRAND
(Bound Residues and Nitrofuran Detection) [9].
This project improves the detection methods for all four of the common
nitrofuran drugs, resulted in the development of a liquid chromatography
tandem mass spectrometry (LC-MS-MS) test, based on an earlier study, which
used Thermospray LC-MS for the detection of tissue-bound 3-amino-2-
oxazolidone (AOZ) residues in pigs [20]. The metabolites detected as markers
for the remaining nitrofurans are: 5-morpholino-3-amino-2-oxazolidinone
(AMOZ from furaltadone), 1-aminohydantoin (AHD from nitrofurantoin) and
semicarbazide (SEM from nitrofurazone). The methods developed as part of
this project have been instrumental in uncovering the hitherto unknown abuse
of all four of the nitrofuran drugs in food animal production systems
worldwide [21].
After 2002 a new method developed by RIKILT Wageningen and DARD
Belfast as part of the framework of the FoodBRAND European Project for
detecting nitrofuran residues, with greater sensitivity and specificity in food
animal products, was introduced into the routine of the majority of the EU
National Reference Laboratories for residues analysis.
The process of implementation and validation techniques took a voluntary
basis during the second and third quarters of 2002. The increase in sensitivity
allowed for the detection of nitrofuran metabolite residues in a large amount of
samples from poultry and aquaculture products imported to Europe from some
Southeast Asian and South American countries. Also, within the EU, the same
happened for pork and poultry meat, leading to the nitrofuran crisis in Portugal
during 2002-2003. There was evidence of illegal abuse of these compounds,
mainly in poultry production farms [8].
The EU took protective measures against Thailand (Commission Decision
2002/251/EC 2002 [22] and Brazil (Commission Decision 2002/794/EC 2002
[23], requiring Member States to test, at the first port of entry, a proportion of
all poultry and poultry meat imports into the EU for the presence of nitrofuran
metabolites. These restrictions have, meanwhile, been lifted. All products of
animal origin from Third World countries intended for consumption on the EU
market are required to abide by the same rules as food produced within the
EU. As a result, any Third World country exporters of food to the EU must
