Survey of ochratoxin A content in coffee on the South African retail market

Soluble coffee and roasted coffee beans were purchased on the local market and analysed for OTA using aminopropylsolid phase extraction column clean-up and quantitation with reversed phase HPLC. Preliminary results suggest that the levels of OT A in coffee on the South African market are slightly higher than on the European market. The levels varied between undetectable to 40 ng OT A per gram coffee with the highest levels found in some of the less expensive instant coffee. The average level of ochratoxin A (OTA) for all the coffees analysed was 6 ng/g.