Worldwide Survey of Fumonisin Contamination of Corn and Corn-Based Products

Abstract

As part of a comprehensive risk assessment study for fumonisins, reliable data on exposure of populations to these dietary toxins must be obtained. To assess the extent of worldwide exposure, the published literature on the contamination of food and feed supplies has been reviewed and supplemented with unpublished material from various international sources. Fumonisin contamination of corn and corn-based products occurs in many countries. Animal mycotoxicoses such as equine leukoencephalomalacia and porcine pulmonary edema are caused by heavily contaminated animal feeds. For example, as much as 330 μg/g fumonisin B1 (FB1) has been found in swine feed. Although commercially available refined corn products for human consumption are generally contaminated at levels below 1 μg/g FB1, individual products in certain countries can reach far higher levels. Health risks associated with consumption of these products depend on the extent to which they are consumed in a varied diet. Home-grown corn in certain rural areas, where it also constitutes the staple diet, can be contaminated at >100 μg/g. Consumption of corn contaminated at these high levels has: been associated with a high incidence of esophageal cancer in these areas.

Strategies to reduce exposure of fumonisins from complementary foods in rural Tanzania

“…In most parts ofTanzania,maize is the main cereal used in complementary food (Mamiro et al 2005;Nyaruhucha et al 2006;Kimanya et al 2009). Unfortunately, maize is very vulnerable to contamination by fumonisin mycotoxins (Shephard et al 1996;Miller 2001).The most prevalent of the fumonisins in contaminated maize are fumonisins B1 (FB1), B2 (FB2) and B3 (FB3) (Miller 2001;Fandohan et al 2005).…”

Antifungal activity of four weedy plant extracts against selected mycotoxigenic fungi

“…Apart from the production losses that these fungi cause directly, they also produce mycotoxins, which pose a health hazard to both humans and animals and impact on the commercial trade of agricultural produce. The most important toxins produced by some strains of Fusarium and Aspergillus species are fumonisins and aflatoxins, respectively, of which fumonisin B 1 (FB 1 ) and aflatoxin B 1 (AFB 1 ) are considered to be most toxic (Shephard et al 1996). Fumonisins cause leukoencephalomalacia (LEM) in horses and pulmonary oedema in pigs (PPE) (Marasas 1995) and have been associated with a higher risk of oesophageal and liver cancer in humans (Gelderblom et al 1988;Ueno et al 1997) as well as neural tube defects in infants (NTDs) (Missmer et al 2006).…”

Colloidal gold‐McAb probe‐based rapid immunoassay strip for simultaneous detection of fumonisins in maize

“…FB 1 is the most toxic and is the major component of the FBs. The occurrence of oesophageal cancer is possibly related to humans who have consumed corns contaminated with FB 1 . It has been classified as a 2B carcinogen, which is a possible carcinogen to humans, by the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC).…”

“…In comparison, the colloidal gold-labelled antibody probe-based immunochromatographic test strip has distinct advantages that the strip is self-contained and results could be achieved in 5-10 min. 10,15,16 Herein, we report the preparation of a highly sensitive anti-FB 1 McAb, which had high cross-reactivity with FB 2 and FB 3 , and the subsequent development of a colloidal gold-McAb probe and one-step test strip for simultaneous detection of FBs in maize samples.…”