Compiled and Edited by Food Science Australia Produced and Published by the Aciar Postharvest Technology Program

s of 42 papers given at the Fumonisin Risk Assessment Workshop are presented. Topics covered include occurrence, analytical methods, toxicity and risk assessment of fumonisins and control of fumonisin production. PETERSEN, A. and THORUP, I. 2001. Preliminary evaluation of fumonisins by the Nordic countries and occurrence of fumonisins (FB 1 and FB 2 ) in cornbased foods on the Danish market . Food Additives and Contaminants 18 : 221–226. The presence of FB 1 and FB 2 in corn based food on the Danish retail market was surveyed. A total of 70 samples were analysed and 37% contained FB 1 and 21% contained FB 2 . No fumonisins were found in sweet corn (canned or frozen), corn-on-thecob, corn starch or gruel powder for babies. FB 1 was found in about half of the corn flakes, corn snack and popcorn samples, whereas FB 2 was seen to a lesser extent. Both FB 1 and FB 2 were found in 75% or more of the corn flour, tacos and polenta samples. In general, the content of FB 1 was in the range 1–1000 μ g/kg and the content of FB 2 was in the range 4–250 μ g/kg. CHELULE, P.K., GQALENI, N., DUTTON, M.F. and CHUTURGOON, A.A. 2001. Exposure of rural and urban populations in KwaZulu Natal, South Africa, to fumonisin B 1 in maize . Environmental Health Perspectives 109 : 253–256. Households in rural and urban areas of KwaZulu Natal, South Africa, were surveyed to assess the exposure of the inhabitants to FB 1 . Of the 50 rural maize samples examined, 32% had levels of FB 1 ranging from 0.1 to 22.2 mg/kg, whereas 29% of the 28 cooked maize (phutu) samples contained FB 1 ranging from 0.1 to 0.4 mg/kg. The incidence and levels of FB 1 in faeces were 33% and 0.5–39.0 mg/kg, respectively. Of the 49 urban maize samples analysed 6.1% contained FB 1 in the range 0.2–0.5 mg/kg, whereas 3/44 faecal samples contained FB 1 in the range 0.6–16.2 mg/kg. No FB 1 was detected in urban phutu samples. TSENG, T.C. and LIU, C.Y. 2001. O ccurrence of fumonisin B 1 in maize imported into Taiwan . International Journal of Food Microbiology 65 : 23–26. Samples of maize imported into Taiwan during 1997–1998 were collected and analysed for FB 1 . Eight of 118 samples were found to contain FB1 and values ranged from 334 to 1614 μg/kg. The frequency of FB1 found in maize samples imported from Australia was 20%, followed by Thailand (10%) and USA (5.1%). Only four samples contained FB1 in excess of 300 μg/kg. CAMARGOS, S.M., SOARES, L.M.V., SAWAZAKI, E., BOLONHEZI, D., CASTRO, J.L. and BORTOLLETO, N. 2001. Fumonisins in corn cultivars in the state of Sao Paulo. Brazilian Journal of Microbiology 31: 226–229. Samples of corn belonging to 19 cultivars with distinct types of germoplasms, endosperm and length of vegetative cycle, were analysed for FB1 and B2. The cultivars were grown in experimental fields in three locations within the State of Sao Paulo, Brazil, during the 1997/1998 crop. All 23 samples were contaminated with fumonisins, with concentrations of FB1 ranging from 1.63 to 25.69 mg/kg with an average of 5.61 mg/kg and of FB2 from 0.38 to 8.60 mg/kg with an average of 1.86 mg/kg. In terms of fumonisins, these high levels put the corn cultivated in Sao Paulo among the most contaminated in the world reported to date. MILLER, J.D. 2001. Factors that affect the occurrence of fumonisin. Environmental Health Perspectives 109: