Mycotoxins in Wheat Flours Marketed in Shanghai, China: Occurrence and Dietary Risk Assessment

Abstract

The risk of exposure to mycotoxins through the consumption of wheat flours has long been a concern. A total of 299 wheat flours marketed in Shanghai Province of China were surveyed and analyzed for the co-occurrence of 13 mycotoxins through an ultra-high performance liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry (UPLC-MS/MS) method. The detection rates of mycotoxins in wheat flours ranged from 0.7~74.9% and their average contamination levels in wheat flours (0.2~57.6 µg kg−1) were almost lower than the existing regulations in cereals. However, their co-contamination rate was as high as 98.1%, especially Fusarium and Alternaria mycotoxins. Comparative analysis of different types of wheat flours showed that the average contamination levels in refined wheat flours with low-gluten were lower. Based on these contamination data and the existing consumption data of Shanghai residents, point evaluation and the Monte Carlo assessment model were used to preliminarily evaluate the potential dietary exposure risk. The probable daily intakes of almost all mycotoxins, except for alternariol, were under the health-based guidance values for 90% of different consumer groups. Health risks of dietary exposure to alternariol should be a concern and further studied in conjunction with an internal exposure assessment.

Restricted-Access Media Column Switching Online Solid-Phase Extraction UHPLC–MS/MS for the Determination of Seven Type B Trichothecenes in Whole-Grain Preprocessed Foods and Human Exposure Risk Assessment

“…Several studies have demonstrated that grains can be co-contaminated with NIV and D3G, with concentrations ranging from tens to hundreds of µg/kg [42,43]. This suggests that when assessing the risk of trichothecene contamination in cereal products, in addition to focusing on free DON, attention should also be paid to other coexisting analogs [44].…”

“…Several studies have demonstrated that grains can be co-contaminated with NIV and D3G, with concentrations ranging from tens to hundreds of µg/kg [42,43]. This suggests that when assessing the risk of trichothecene contamination in cereal products, in addition to focusing on free DON, attention should also be paid to other coexisting analogs [44]. FusX, as an acetylated derivative of NIV, exhibits relatively low toxicity, and current research primarily focuses on the detection of this toxin in grains, which are raw materials for processed foods.…”

Fungal and Toxin Contaminants in Cereal Grains and Flours: Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis

“…In a study involving 181 samples obtained from various Chinese provinces, over 91% of the samples tested positively for TeA, TEN, and AME [197]. NIV was prevalent in 57 and 41 samples studied by the teams of Liu and Zhou, respectively [193,198]. Despite the smaller toxicity of ENNs and BEA compared to other Fusarium mycotoxins, they are still of interest due to their presence in high concentrations [199].…”

Advancing food safety risk assessment in China: development of new approach methodologies (NAMs)

“…In the last decade, CFSA has used TTC approach to assess the risk of Alternaria toxins in wheat, tomato, and citrus-based products, furfural and its derivatives in coffee products, and non-volatile compounds in polyamide food contact materials (Zhao et al, 2015a;Zhao et al, 2015b;Hu et al, 2021;Ji et al, 2022a;Liu et al, 2023a). Other academic institutions in China also adopted the TTC approach to assess the risk of flavor compounds in flavored milk (Chen et al, 2023), estrogens in milk products (Chen et al, 2014), fluorinated liquid-crystal monomers in foods (Yang et al, 2023), and mycotoxins such as Alternaria and Fusarium in different food categories (Fan et al, 2021;Zhou et al, 2022a;Ji et al, 2022b;Ji et al, 2022c;Qiao et al, 2022;Ji et al, 2023a;Ji et al, 2023b). Though TTC is not a "new" method, it remains a useful approach without testing, but with some limitations such as the method may not be applicable for some substances summarized in the guide by EFSA (Committee et al, 2019).…”