Mycotoxins – Limits and Regulations

Since early years, a need has always been felt for some control on the quality of foodstuffs. With the discovery of aflatoxins in the early sixties, health authorities in man countries have become active in establishing regulations to protect their citizens and livestock fro t potential harm caused by mycotoxins. FDA mycotox-ins-in-foods sampling program is continuing with an objective to remove those foods from interstate commerce that contain Aflatoxins "at levels judged to be of regulator significance" Aflatoxins, Fumonisin B1 and B2, Deoxynivalenol (DON) Ochratoxin A and Patulin occur in a number of food products. FDA workers were instructed to sample and analyze all products for different types of mycotoxins. All baby foods should always be analyzed for all type of mycotoxins. The limits of Aflatoxins B1,B2,! < G2, and M1 in foods and feed stuffs varies from (0-40) ppb for foods & 0-1000ppb for food); for Ochratoxin A(0-50 ppb in food and 0-1000ppb in feed); for Don (500-2000ppb in food & 5-10,000 ppb in feed); for Zearalenone (0-1000 ppb in food); for Patulin (0-50 ppb in foods), for Diacetoxyscirpenol (0-100 ppd in feed); for chetomin (0ppb I feed); for stachybotryotoxin (0ppb in feeds and for Fumonisins (0-1000 ppb in food 5000-50,000 ppb in feedstuffs).