FDA to Require Accredited Labs in 6 Months for Mycotoxin Tests for Import Alert Removal, Admissibility
The FDA announced May 31 that it will in about six months begin requiring accreditation under its Laboratory Accreditation for Analyses of Foods (LAAF) regulation for laboratories testing for mycotoxins to support admissibility or removal from an import alert (see 2112020017).
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The mycotoxin “analyte group” is the first type of testing for which CBP has determined there is “sufficient laboratory capacity” accredited under the LAAF program, the FDA said in a notice released May 31. Aflatoxin is among the toxins that are considered mycotoxins, the notice said.
Beginning in about six months, the agency said, LAAF-accredited labs will have to be used by the owner or consignee of food imports for any testing for mycotoxins to demonstrate admissibility for shipments detained by the FDA. Likewise, in about six months, such labs will have to be used for mycotoxin testing used to support removal from an import alert.
The six months will run from the date mycotoxins are added to the FDA’s “LAAF Dashboard.” As of press time, no table had yet been added to the dashboard detailing which analyte groups are subject to LAAF, and the dashboard still said FDA hadn’t announced sufficient laboratory capacity for any analyte group.