Background Milk is a highly nutritious food, and it is a source of necessary macro-and micronutrients for the growth, development and maintenance of human health. However, it may also be a source of natural food contaminants that may cause disease. The presence of aflatoxin M 1 (AFM 1) in milk and dairy products throughout the world has been known since twenty to thirty ago. Milk and dairy products contamination with aflatoxin M 1 is important problem worldwide especially for developing countries for the last ten to twenty years. Scope and Approach The presence of this mycotoxin in these products is important issue, especially for children and infants, who are more susceptible than adults. This review provides information regarding the occurrence of AFM 1 in milk and dairy products in many regions of the world, its stability during processing and some reduction strategies. In this review the toxicity, occurrence of AFM 1 in milk and dairy products (preferably for the last 5 years), regulations, strategies for its reduction, latest developments in detection methodologies and future challenges are described. Key Findings and Conclusions Strict regulations and adapting good storage practices in developed countries have minimized the contamination of AFM 1 in milk and dairy products. The current advancements in analytical techniques have helped the law enforcement agencies to implement strict regulations. Furthermore, the improvement in analytical facility and increasing the awareness related to the health effects of AFM 1 in milk and dairy products could minimize its occurrence level in developing countries.

The exploration of feed mycotoxin adsorbents to mitigate the adverse effects of mycotoxins on animals has received increasing attention over the last decade. The present study was conducted to assess the efficacy of nano-composite magnetic graphene oxide with chitosan (MGO-CTS) adsorbents against feed contaminated with ~20 ng/g (ppb) aflatoxin (AF). A total of three hundred 1-day-old chicks were randomly distributed into six dietary treatment groups, as follows: basal diet (broilers fed a diet with neither AF nor MGO-CTS added, T1), basal diet + 0.25% MGO-CTS (T2), basal diet + 0.50% MGO-CTS (T3), AF diet + 0.25% MGO-CTS (T4), AF diet + 0.50% MGO-CTS (T5), and AF diet (T6). The two inclusion levels (0.25 and 0.50%) of MGO-CTS significantly (p < 0.05) improved the growth performances and feed conversion ratios of the AF-treated chicks at 1–35 days of age, and the impact was more pronounced for 0.5% MGO-CTS. The AF intake markedly increased the relative weights of the liver and kidney, resulting in significant alterations in the serum biochemical parameters, such as albumins, alkaline phosphatase, and SGPT/alanine (ALT), at 35 days of age. However, the chickens fed 0.5% MGO-CTS with AF diets had apparent recovery or restoration of AF-induced organ lesions and aberrant serum profiles. A significant (p < 0.05) reduction in the total AFs was observed in the gastrointestinal tracts of the chickens fed 0.25% or 0.50% adsorbent in combination with AF feed (T4 and T5), with decreases of 28.9% and 53.5%, respectively, compared with that in the chickens fed an AF-contaminated diet (T6). The results of the study indicated that a higher concentration of MGO-CTS (0.50%) was effective in improving the overall performance of broiler chickens by preventing the adverse effects associated with aflatoxicosis.

Adsorption plays an important role in the removal of mycotoxins from feedstuffs. The main objective of this study was to investigate the efficacy of using magnetic graphene oxide nanocomposites (MGO) as an adsorbent for the reduction of Fusarium mycotoxins in naturally contaminated palm kernel cake (PKC). Liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS) was used to assess the mycotoxins in animal feed. Target mycotoxins included the zearalenone (ZEA), the fumonisins (FB1 and FB2) and trichothecenes (deoxynivalenol (DON), HT-2 and T-2 toxin). Response surface methodology (RSM) was applied to investigate the effects of time (3–7 h), temperature (30–50 °C) and pH (3–7) on the reduction. The response surface models with (R2 = 0.94–0.99) were significantly fitted to predict mycotoxins in contaminated PKC. Furthermore, the method ensured a satisfactory adjustment of the polynomial regression models with the experimental data except for fumonisin B1 and B2, which decrease the adsorption of magnetic graphene oxide (MGO). The optimum reduction was performed at pH 6.2 for 5.2 h at of 40.6 °C. Under these optimum conditions, reduced levels of 69.57, 67.28, 57.40 and 37.17%, were achieved for DON, ZEA, HT-2, and T-2, respectively.

Mycotoxins are an important class of pollutants that are toxic and hazardous to animal and human health. Consequently, various methods have been explored to abate their effects, among which adsorbent has found prominent application. Liquid chromatography tandem mass spectrometry (LC–MS/MS) has recently been applied for the concurrent evaluation of multiple mycotoxins. This study investigated the optimization of the simultaneous removal of mycotoxins in palm kernel cake (PKC) using chitosan. The removal of 11 mycotoxins such as aflatoxins (AFB1, AFB2, AFG1 and AFG2), ochratoxin A (OTA), zearalenone (ZEA), fumonisins (FB1 and FB2) and trichothecenes (deoxynivalenol (DON), HT-2 and T-2 toxin) from palm kernel cake (PKC) was studied. The effects of operating parameters such as pH (3–6), temperature (30–50 °C) and time (4–8 h) on the removal of the mycotoxins were investigated using response surface methodology (RSM). Response surface models obtained with R2 values ranging from 0.89–0.98 fitted well with the experimental data, except for the trichothecenes. The optimum point was obtained at pH 4, 8 h and 35 °C. The maximum removal achieved with chitosan for AFB1, AFB2, AFG1, AFG2, OTA, ZEA, FB1 and FB2 under the optimized conditions were 94.35, 45.90, 82.11, 84.29, 90.03, 51.30, 90.53 and 90.18%, respectively.