Milk and dairy products, including yogurt, provide essential nutrients and are widely consumed as valuable protein sources. However, considering then increasing prevalence of Aflatoxin B1 (AFB1) in the diet of dairy cows, concerns arise regarding the possible contamination of milk and dairy products with AFM1, the major metabolite of AFB1 excreted in the milk of lactating animals. AFM1, although less potent when compared to AFB1, has been associated with an increase in the prevalence of human hepatic carcinoma. Hence, following a survey on AFM1 contamination of raw and processed drinking milk, this study aimed to evaluate the occurrence of aflatoxin M1 (AFM1) in yogurt available in Bangkok, Thailand, and to estimate the associated dietary exposure and health risk among different population groups. A total of 180 plain yogurt samples were randomly collected from supermarkets during March to June 2024. The samples were extracted using the QuEChERS methodology and analyzed using a validated liquid chromatography- tandem mass spectrometry method. With this method, residual amounts of AFM1 were detected in 12 out of 180 yoghurt samples, with concentrations ranging from 0.031 to 0.048µg/kg. These levels are below the statutory limits set by the European Union and the FAO/WHO Joint Expert Committee. In addition, a quantitative risk assessment conducted for the AFM1 positive samples revealed that the margin of exposure (MOE) values derived for yogurt were above 10,000. The risk level of hepatocellular carcinoma due to AFM1 exposure expressed as the mean estimated number of liver cancer cases per 100,000 individuals per year ranged from 1.12 × 10- 7 to 1.33 × 10- 4 for the positive yogurt samples. Although the overall risk of AFM1 exposure is considered low for all age groups, children remain the most vulnerable population; therefore, continuous monitoring of dairy milk and milk products is warranted to minimize potential exposure.

The consumption of tea as a beverage is considerably increasing worldwide. However, some questions are raised about its safety, particularly regarding the potential contamination by mycotoxins. The objectives of this systematic review and meta-analysis were to assess the overall prevalence of mycotoxin contamination in different types of tea (black, green, dark, white and pu-erh), to compare the contamination rate between two periods (2000-2017 and 2018-2022), and to investigate the impact of country's income on this contamination. Included studies were selected from Scopus, Science Direct, Web of Science, PubMed and Google Scholar research databases, according to PRISMA guidelines. Statistical analysis was performed using MecdCalc software. Concerning the analytical methods used for mycotoxin detection, 84.6% of included studies used HPLC and or LC-MS/MS. In the 21 included studies, the mycotoxin contamination was predominantly by deoxynivalenol, with 43.8% (95% CI: 8.2%- 83.8%), followed by ochratoxin A (29.1% (95% CI: 11.9%- 50.2%)), enniatin (23.7% (95% CI: 1.7%- 60.1%)), citrinin (23.6% (95% CI: 6.2%- 47.8%)), zearalenone (17.8% (95% CI: 5.1%- 36.0%)), and aflatoxins (12.4% (95% CI: 7.8%- 17.9%)). Regarding tea categories, black tea was the most contaminated type, with a rate of 89.2% (95% CI: 73.9%-98.3%), followed by green tea with a rate of 67.3% (95% CI: 37.0%-91.2%). The contamination prevalence was higher in studies conducted before 2018 than those of the 2018-2022 period, and lower in high-income countries compared to middle and low-income countries, where tea contamination was rarely reported. Therefore, more stringent prevention strategies, including regulatory measures, are needed to decrease the risk of tea consumers exposure to mycotoxins.

Infection of plants with molds and inadequate storage conditions of plant materials contribute to contamination of crops like cereals, corn and soybeans with mycotoxins. Plant-derived ingredients serve as major protein sources in aquaculture feeds; however, the increasing use of insects as alternative nutrient sources introduces additional potential pathways for mycotoxin contamination. Strong evidence shows that exposure of fish to mycotoxins can negatively affect their health, leading to reduced growth, impaired immune response and reproductive disorders. However, knowledge of the effects of mycotoxins on farmed insects is still limited. Little is known about the insect metabolism of mycotoxins and their transfer to animal feed, which constitutes a weakness of safety assessments of insects as feed components. This review provides comprehensive information about the consequences of mycotoxin contamination of feed materials and feeds used in aquaculture. To facilitate understanding of the problem and its scale, the mycotoxin levels in plant materials and finished feeds used in aquaculture were compiled and analyzed together with the contamination levels of fish-derived food. Moreover, the available data on the effects of fish exposure to the selected mycotoxins are summarized, highlighting the complexity of the biological activity of these compounds. Finally, recent challenges to the safety of using insects as a protein source in fish nutrition are discussed. The information provided herein is important for assessing the health and economic risks of the growing use of modern feed ingredients in the sustainable aquaculture.

Mycotoxins contribute to a substantial loss of global maize grain yields in terms of tonnes. However, in sub-Saharan Africa, screening of mycotoxin-producing fungi predominantly relies on culture-based methods, which are both time-consuming and labour-intensive. This study examined the major fungal species responsible for aflatoxin production in major maize-producing regions of Kenya using molecular techniques. Maize samples were collected from Kilifi, Makueni, and Kisumu counties. For fungal isolation followed by molecular identification targeting the internal transcribed spacer region (ITS) for Fusarium and calmodulin (CaM) genes for Aspergillus, Penicillium, and Trichoderma, this was followed by basic local alignment search tool (BLAST) analysis. The study revealed 14 fungal species belonging to four genera namely Aspergillus, Penicillium, Fusarium, and Trichoderma. Kisumu County had the highest diversity of fungal species, representing 47.8% of the total identified. Within Kisumu, Penicillium species were the most prevalent, with an incidence rate of 72.9%. In contrast, Aspergillus species were most common in Kilifi County (54.5% incidence). The application of DNA barcoding techniques significantly enhanced the precision of identifying aflatoxin-producing fungi compared to conventional identification methods. This study confirms the presence of multiple fungal species responsible for aflatoxin production in Kenya's maize-growing regions.

Aflatoxin contamination of corn can occur when developing kernels are infected by the plant pathogen Aspergillus flavus. One route of infection is from airborne conidia. We executed a series of experiments within the corn canopy during two growing seasons and in two states to document the abundance and dynamics of the airborne A. flavus population. We did not observe any significant diurnal changes in the conidial density (p = 0.171) or any effect of sampler height (p = 0.882) within the canopy. Significant changes (p < 0.001) were noted during the season, with a trend towards increased airborne populations with later stages of corn development and more than a 20-fold increase from July to August. The median aflatoxigenicity of airborne isolates from a corn canopy in Texas was about 50 times higher than the corresponding population in Mississippi. It was also noteworthy that highly aflatoxigenic, weakly sporulating S-morphotypes accounted for 14–30% of the airborne isolates in Mississippi at a site with historically rare abundance of S-morphotypes. The genetic diversity was high among the 140 analyzed airborne isolates, with 76 unique haplotypes identified and 55 haplotypes occurring only in 1 isolate. Even in the context of this highly diverse population, a haplotype matching that of a commercial biocontrol strain was found in 13 of the 70 isolates from Mississippi and 1 of the 70 isolates from Texas. The airborne A. flavus population is genetically diverse (Shannon’s index = 1.4 to 1.6), similar to grain samples in other surveys, and much less aflatoxigenic in Mississippi than in Texas.

Following the use of sugar beet pulp that was retrospectively found to be predominantly contaminated with zearalenone (ZEN) in diets of reproducing sows largely exceeding the EU-guidance value for critical ZEN concentration of 0.25 mg/kg, farmers did not report any changes in the reproductive performance of sows. Thus, the aim of the study was to verify this guidance value in a dose–response setup by using sugar beet pulp as a ZEN source hitherto not considered a risky feedstuff additionally characterized by comparatively low levels of deoxynivalenol. A total of 90 sows was equally allocated to one of the three feed groups during experimental lactation 1 and up to 40 days after insemination: CON with a minimal ZEN concentration, ZEN1 with a target concentration of 250 µg ZEN/kg feed, and ZEN2 with a target concentration of 500 µg ZEN/kg feed. Thereafter, all sows received the same feed without ZEN for the rest of gestation, and the following lactation for testing of putative carry-over effects resulting from previous ZEN exposure. Exposure of sows to ZEN with blood serum as an indicator was linearly related to dietary ZEN concentrations. Reproductive and zootechnical performances of sows were only affected by ZEN exposure at weaning weight. Clinical-chemical parameters indicated no clear effect of ZEN exposure. An influence of ZEN on the occurrence of tail and ear injuries (not necrosis) in piglets and lesions on the mammary complexes in sows is possible. The influence of a ZEN concentration above the EU guidance value on the study farm can therefore not be neglected.

DON and ZEN residues in the blood and urine of dairy cows can be used to predict the outer exposure to DON and ZEN expressed per kilogram diet for a risk evaluation based on comparisons to critical dietary concentrations. This method was used to evaluate the exposure of dairy cows from 12 farms located in Brandenburg, Germany, fed rations with unknown DON and ZEN concentrations (N = 244). The corresponding diet concentrations predicted by different methods from analyzed blood and urine samples varied significantly amongst farms from 0 to 1.6 mg/kg for DON and 0 to 3.0 mg/kg for ZEN at a reference dry matter content of 88% but independently of lactational state (post-partum vs. early lactation). This significant variation was noticed below the critical dietary DON concentration of 5 mg/kg, while the ZEN concentration in one farm exceeded the critical ZEN level of 0.5 mg/kg markedly. Predicted DON concentrations of rations increased with the proportion of maize silage, while the high ZEN concentration found in one farm was most likely related to a higher proportion of sugar beet pulp supposedly highly contaminated by ZEN. Exceeding the critical dietary ZEN concentration and significant variations in DON contents below the critical level was not related to performance, reproductive performance, and health-related traits of cows. For a more consistent evaluation of possible associations between the inner exposure of cows to DON and ZEN, more frequent longitudinal observations of both mycotoxin residue levels and performance and health traits are required.