Regulations relating to mycotoxins in food

Abstract

Regulations relating to mycotoxins have been established in many countries to protect the consumer from the harmful effects of these compounds. Different factors play a role in the decision-making process of setting limits for mycotoxins. These include scientific factors, for example the availability of toxicological data and occurrence data, detailed knowledge about possibilities for sampling and analysis, and socio-economic issues. By the end of 2003, approximately 100 countries (covering approximately 85% of the world's inhabitants) had specific regulations or detailed guidelines for mycotoxins in food. The regulations were related to aflatoxins (B 1 , B 2 , G 1 and G 2 ), aflatoxin M 1 , trichothecenes (deoxynivalenol, diacetoxyscirpenol, T-2 toxin and HT-2 toxin), fumonisins (B 1 , B 2 , and B 3 ), agaric acid, ergot alkaloids, ochratoxin A, patulin, phomopsins, sterigmatocystin, and zearalenone. In Europe, and in particular in the EU, regulatory and scientific interest in mycotoxins has undergone a development in the last decade from autonomous national activity towards more EU-driven activity with a structural and network character. Harmonized EU limits now exist for 40 mycotoxin-food combinations. It is expected this number will grow in 2007 to approximately 50. The direct or indirect influence of European organizations and programs on the EU mycotoxin regulatory developments is significant. They include the European Food Safety Authority, the Scientific Cooperation on Questions relating to Food, the Rapid Alert System for Food and Feed, the creation of an EU Community Reference Laboratory for Mycotoxins and a mandate of the EC to the European Standardization Committee in methods for analysis for mycotoxins in food. Large pan-European research and networking projects as "BioCop" and "MoniQA" are also important.

Validation of a UHPLC-FLD method for the simultaneous quantification of aflatoxins, ochratoxin A and zearalenone in barley

“…In order to assess the exposure to toxins, reliable data on the occurrence of mycotoxins in different commodities is needed (Van Egmond, Schothorst & Jonker, 2007). The chemical diversity of mycotoxins and their varying concentration ranges in different samples is a great challenge to analytical chemists; therefore, most methods target on individual mycotoxins (Krska, Schubert-Ullrich, Molinelli, Sulyok, MacDonald & Crews, 2008).…”

RNAi as an emerging approach to control Fusarium head blight disease and mycotoxin contamination in cereals

“…Therefore, silencing of Chs3b led to considerable DON reduction in single‐floret inoculations and natural field infections. However, the levels of DON detected were still above the maximum permitted limit in many countries 7. In that study, only visible disease symptoms were rigorously assessed.…”

Development of a nanoarray capable of the rapid and simultaneous detection of zearalenone, T2-toxin and fumonisin

“…Improvements in automated image and data analysis software for novice end users are required to improve the overall rapidity of analysis. The complex toxic effects of mycotoxins pose significant health risks to humans and animals and this necessitates for effective control and surveillance procedures [5][6][7][8][9]. The initial stages in the protection against mycotoxin contamination is through the adoption of good agricultural, storage and processing practices to ensure mycotoxin levels remain negligible or as low as reasonably achievable [10].…”