The Sulfasensor® Honey kit is a receptor test dedicated to the screening of sulphonamide residues respectively in different matrices. The aim of this project was to evaluate and validate this kit according to the Community Reference Laboratory (CRL) guideline for the validation of screening methods to achieve the French control plan for honey. The test is robust, quick (90 min for 40 samples), easy to perform and easy to read. The false-positive rate was estimated to be 12.5%. The detection capabilities CCβ of the kit were lower than or equal to 25 µg kg(-1) for sulfamethazine, sulfamerazine, sulfathiazole and sulfapyridine, and between 25 and 50 µg kg(-1) for sulfadiazine and sulfadimethoxine, 150 µg kg(-1) for sulfaquinoxaline, and 1000 µg kg(-1) for sulfamethoxazole and sulfamethizole. Sulfanilamide was not detected by the kit. The kit was applicable to a wide variety of honeys (different floral and geographical origins, liquid or solid). This kit was used to implement the French control plan for the detection of antibiotic residues in honey in 2010 in parallel with an HPLC method. However, in 2011 the kit was replaced by an LC-MS/MS method for the screening and confirmation of sulfonamide residues in honey, which detects all the sulfonamides of interest.
