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Aflatoxin (AF) contamination of peanuts represents a significant food safety risk. Developing a rapid and non‐destructive method for in‐line AF detection has received significant attentions. This study confirmed the effectiveness of a laser based in‐line AF sorting technology in a peanut processing factory, with 99% specificity and 75% sensitivity for aflatoxin B1 (AFB1). In total, 80 in‐line sorting trials were undertaken. The accepted samples from 99% trials had AFB1 below 10 μg/kg. In 75% of the trials, the AFB1 content of the rejected material exceeded 10 μg/kg by up to a factor of ca. 20. At a throughput of 2.4–4.0 tons per hour, the rejection rate ranged from 0.7 to 4.7%. No significant differences in AFB1 level and rejection rate were observed among different suppliers nor were there differences among the different quality grades. Overall, the sorter effectively removed AF contaminated peanuts without comprising the line throughput. PRACTICAL APPLICATIONS: The validated in‐line sorting technology can be used in food factories for the control of aflatoxins in food samples such as oilseeds and grains. Furthermore, the technology can be developed for the control of other kinds of mycotoxins.

The dramatic growth in ionic liquid research over the past decade has resulted in the development of a huge number of novel ionic liquids, as well as many associated applications. The perceived environmentally friendly nature of ionic liquids, which results from their negligible vapor pressure, is now under scrutiny since although they will not evaporate into air, it is not possible to guarantee that they will never enter the environment. Toxicity research studies including ecotoxicity, have recently received broad attention and the commonly accepted notion that ionic liquids have low toxicity has been shown to be incorrect. This review attempts to highlight the progress of ionic liquid toxicity research, as well as the development of degradable and bio-renewable ionic liquids.