Endotoxins

Lipopolysaccharide toxins of Gram-negative bacteria, or any microbial toxins released only when cells break apart. They survive heat that kills the bacteria themselves, so they matter in food safety wherever bacterial contamination of water or raw materials is possible. The standard detection method is the Limulus amoebocyte lysate test. Composed of lipid A, core polysaccharide and O-antigen, endotoxins trigger fever and septic shock when they enter the bloodstream, and they are not destroyed by pasteurisation or sterilisation. In injectable pharmaceuticals and medical devices they are tightly limited, while in foods their main relevance is as markers of Gram-negative contamination in water, milk powder and parenteral nutrition ingredients.