Occurrence of Aflatoxins in Food

Mycotoxins are natural contaminants in raw materials, food and feeds [1]. Aflatoxins are toxic metabolites produced by different species of toxigenic fungi, called mycotoxins. The discovery of aflatoxins dates back to the year 1961 following the severe outbreak of turkey “X” disease, in the England, which resulted in the deaths of more than 100.000 turkeys and other farm animals. The cause of the disease was attributed to a feed using thin-layer chro‐ matography (TLC) revealed that a series of fluorescent compounds, later termed aflatoxins, were responsible for the outbreak. The disease was linked to a peanut meal, incorporated in the diet, contaminated with a toxin produced by the filamentous fungus Aspergillus flavus. Hence, the name aflatoxins, an acronym, has been formed from the following combination: the first letter, “A” for the genus Aspergillus, the next set of three letters, “FLA”, for the spe‐ cies flavus, and the noun “TOXIN” meaning poison [2].