Six Main Contributing Factors to High Levels of Mycotoxin Contamination in African Foods

Abstract

Africa is one of the regions with high mycotoxin contamination of foods and continues to record high incidences of liver cancers globally. The agricultural sector of most African countries depends largely on climate variables for crop production. Production of mycotoxins is climate-sensitive. Most stakeholders in the food production chain in Africa are not aware of the health and economic effects of consuming contaminated foods. The aim of this review is to evaluate the main factors and their degree of contribution to the high levels of mycotoxins in African foods. Thus, knowledge of the contributions of different factors responsible for high levels of these toxins will be a good starting point for the effective mitigation of mycotoxins in Africa. Google Scholar was used to conduct a systemic search. Six factors were found to be linked to high levels of mycotoxins in African foods, in varying degrees. Climate change remains the main driving factor in the production of mycotoxins. The other factors are partly man-made and can be manipulated to become a more profitable or less climate-sensitive response. Awareness of the existence of these mycotoxins and their economic as well as health consequences remains paramount. The degree of management of these factors regarding mycotoxins varies from one region of the world to another.

[Retracted] The Status Quo of Criminal Responsibility for Aflatoxin Pollution in China: From the Perspective of Judgment Analysis

“…It was found that the focus of the work of the Food Safety Administrative Agency in China currently was the investigation into counterfeit and low-quality products such as poisoned rice and counterfeit edible oil [ 26 ]. However, people pay little attention to the detection of the internal composition and content of food, which is the key to understanding whether the food contains toxins, especially aflatoxin.…”

Verification of the Accuscan gold reader and RIDA smart phone application rapid test kits in detection and quantification of aflatoxin levels in maize from selected regions in Kenya

“…Furthermore, production of mycotoxins is climate-sensitive where weather and climate variables increases high susceptibility to mycotoxin contamination in Africa. One of the continents with high mycotoxin contamination of foods and remains at record high with incidences of liver cancer globally is Africa (Nji et al, 2022). In addition, climatic factors influence fungal occurrence, such as high temperature and humidity, influence fungal occurrence, thereby increasing the risk of fungal growth and mycotoxin production.…”

Underreported Human Exposure to Mycotoxins: The Case of South Africa

“…Thus, consumers’ exposure to mycotoxins is potentially higher in rural communities when compared to those in cities and towns due to higher levels of maize intake, and higher levels of dietary mycotoxin loads. In addition, subsistence farming practices and pre-harvest (improper management of residue or debris from previous harvests, which contain fungal spores and can increase systemic infection, inappropriate cultivar and use of fertiliser) and post-harvest (unconventional and unhygienic drying techniques as well as traditional or crude storage techniques) handling of crops provide conducive environments for fungal development and mycotoxin production [ 40 ].…”

“…There are different types of beers brewed from cereals in South Africa, and for socio-cultural reasons, mouldy maize is used intentionally in the Eastern Cape and Limpopo to brew beer as it is believed to improve flavour [ 68 , 69 ]. The cereals used are mostly from subsistence farming, which are most often highly contaminated with mycotoxins as a result of poor pre- and post-harvest handling [ 40 ]. The fates of most locally brewed beers with regard to mycotoxin content in SA are yet to be determined.…”