Due to their nutritional value, milk products are popular in Iran. However, aflatoxin M1 (AFM1) in milk and dairy products is considered to pose certain hygienic risks for human health. This study was undertaken to determine the occurrence of aflatoxin M1 in 50 yoghurt samples from 2 dairy factories in summer 2008 and winter 2009. Enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) technique was used for the analysis of yoghurt samples. Aflatoxin M1 was found 70 % in the yoghurt samples, ranging from 21.1 to 137.6 ng/kg. Toxin level is 17.14 % of the samples exceeded the Iranian national standard limit i.e. 50 ng/kg. Also, statistically significant seasonal effect was found for yoghurt samples. The result showed that the contamination of the yoghurt in such a level could be a serious public health problem.
The occurrence of aflatoxin in 35 samples of raw walnuts, which were randomly collected from Iranian supermarkets in Tehran, was examined. Analysis of aflatoxin was performed by solvent extraction and immunoaffinity clean-up followed by determination using high-performance liquid chromatography with fluorescence detection. Limits of detection (LOD) for the aflatoxins were 0.03-0.25 ng g⁻¹. Limits of quantification (LOQ) were 0.12-0.80 ng g⁻¹. Total aflatoxin concentrations in the samples ranged from 0 to 112.8 ng g⁻¹. About 74.3% of the samples were contaminated with aflatoxins, of which 20.0% exceeded the maximum tolerable limit of 15 ng g⁻¹ set by Codex.
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