The current study is based on the AFM1 contamination of milk determined from April 2013 to December 2018 in the framework of a self-control plan of six milk processing plants in Italy. These data – together with the consumption data of milk consumers – were evaluated and used for the calculation of the Estimated Daily Intake (EDI), the Hazard Index (HI), and the fraction of hepatocarcinoma cases (HCC) due to AFM1 exposure in different population groups. Altogether a total of 31,702 milk samples were analyzed, representing 556,413 tons of milk, which is an outstanding amount compared to published studies. The results indicate the monthly fluctuation of AFM1 levels through a period of nearly 6 years. The EDI of AFM1 in different population groups was in the range of 0.025–0.328 ng kg−1 body weight (bw) per day, based on the average consumption levels and weighted mean contamination of the milk in the study period. Considering average consumptions, in the groups of infants and toddlers, the HI calculation resulted in 1.64 and 1.4, respectively, while for older age groups, it was <1. The estimated fractions of HCC incidences attributable to the AFM1 intakes were 0.005 and 0.004 cases per 100,000 individuals in the 0–0.9 and 1–2.9-year age groups, respectively, and below 0.004 cases in the other age categories. The monthly average AFM1 contamination of tested milk consignments ranged between 7.19 and 22.53 ng kg−1. Although the results of this extensive investigation showed a low risk of HCC, the variability of climatic conditions throughout years that influence AFB1 contamination of feed and consequently AFM1 contamination of milk justifies their continuous monitoring and update of the risk assessment.

Aflatoxins, produced mainly by filamentous fungi Aspergillus flavus and Aspergillus parasiticus, are one of the most carcinogenic compounds that have adverse health effects on both humans and animals consuming contaminated food and feed, respectively. Aflatoxin B1 (AFB1) and aflatoxin B2 (AFB2) as well as aflatoxin G1(AFG1) and aflatoxin G2 (AFG2) occur in the contaminated foods and feed. In the case of dairy ruminants, after the consumption of feed contaminated with aflatoxins, aflatoxin metabolites [aflatoxin M1 (AFM1) and aflatoxin M2 (AFM2)] may appear in milk. Because of the health risk and the official maximum limits of aflatoxins, there is a need for application of fast and accurate testing methods. At present, there are several analytical methods applied in practice for determination of aflatoxins. The aim of this review is to provide a guide that summarizes worldwide aflatoxin regulations and analytical methods for determination of aflatoxins in different food and feed matrices, that helps in the decision to choose the most appropriate method that meets the practical requirements of fast and sensitive control of their contamination. Analytical options are outlined from the simplest and fastest methods with the smallest instrument requirements, through separation methods, to the latest hyphenated techniques.

The sampling uncertainty for pesticide residues in carrots, parsley leaves and selected medium size crops was estimated with simple random sampling by applying range statistics. The primary samples taken from treated fields consisted of individual carrots or a handful of parsley leaves. The samples were analysed with QUEChERs extraction method and LCMS/MS detection with practical LOQ of 0.001 mg/kg. The results indicate that the average sampling uncertainties estimated with simple random sampling and range statistics were practically the same. The confidence interval for the estimated sampling uncertainty decreased with the number of replicate samples taken from one lot and the number of lots sampled. The estimated relative ranges of sampling uncertainty are independent from the relative standard deviation of the primary samples. Consequently the conclusions drawn from these experiments are generally applicable. There is no optimum for sample size and number of lots to be tested for estimation of sampling uncertainty. Taking a minimum of 6 replicate samples from at least 8-12 lots is recommended to obtain a relative 95% range of sampling uncertainty within 50%. The cost of sampling/analyses, the consequences of wrong decision should also be taken into account when a sampling plan is prepared.

The study presents a systematic review of published scientific articles investigating the effects of interventions aiming at aflatoxin reduction at the feed production and animal feeding phases of the milk value chain in order to identify the recent scientific trends and summarize the main findings available in the literature. The review strategy was designed based on the guidance of the systematic review and knowledge synthesis methodology that is applicable in the field of food safety. The Web of Science and EBSCOhost online databases were searched with predefined algorithms. After title and abstract relevance screening and relevance confirmation with full-text screening, 67 studies remained for data extraction, which were included in the review. The most important identified groups of interventions based on their mode of action and place in the technological process are as follows: low-moisture production using preservatives, acidity regulators, adsorbents and various microbiological additives. The results of the listed publications are summarized and compared for all the identified intervention groups. The paper aimed to help feed producers, farmers and relevant stakeholders to get an overview of the most suitable aflatoxin mitigation options, which is extremely important in the near future as climate change will likely be accompanied by elevated mycotoxin levels.

Researchers, governments, agencies, food producers and the civil society are increasingly concerned about ‘emerging food risks’. It is recognised that the successful identification of emerging risks is at the heart of protecting public health and the environment, and that this requires worldwide cooperation between all parties involved in the food supply chain. The objectives and research proposed in the DEMETER project are designed to support current (and future) EFSA procedures for emerging issue and risks identification, providing a community resource that will allow EFSA and EU Member State authorities to share data, data mining knowledge and methods in a rapid and effective manner. A prototype technical Platform called the Emerging Risks Knowledge Exchange Platform (ERKEP) will be developed by DEMETER. The ‘Concept Note’ is a vison document on a framework of Emerging Risk Knowledge Exchange in which ERKEP is embedded in – but goes beyond the ERKE platform. Outlined in this document are: definitions of relevant concepts in the context of emerging issues and risks identification; who are the contributors, users and stakeholders of ERKEP; what are the identified end‐user needs, how could the ERKEP Framework contribute to meeting these needs; what types of knowledge, data, and methods do they share; and how can a technical solution be implemented to support these activities.