Contamination and Risk Assessment of Total Aflatoxin in Iranian Rice in Various Food Security Regions

Background and Objectives: Aflatoxin is one of the most important and common toxins in high consumption foods such as rice, which can threaten health of the consumers. In this study, risk of total aflatoxin based on its exposure levels and adverse effects was assessed in Iranian rice.  Materials & Methods: This study was carried out on total aflatoxin in 60 national rice samples collected based on the Food Safety and Nutrition regions. The risk score was assessed in each region and through the country using quantitative risk assessment method based on the estimated exposure, provisional maximum tolerable daily intake (PMTDI), carcinogenic slip factor (CSF) in the two groups of HBAg+ and HBAg- and effects of various cooking methods. Results: The mean and standard deviation of the total aflatoxin content in rice samples included 1.13 and 1.8 μg/kg, respectively. Results of the exposure assessment in terms of minimum, average and maximum concentrations of the contaminants and the consumption volume in each region for the two groups of HBAg+ and HBAg- showed that the highest risk score was linked to rice cooking method in rural areas of relatively unsafe regions and in HBAg+ group. Conclusion: Despite a high-risk score volume of the rice consumption in Iran, results have shown that the total aflatoxin in rice is lower than the maximum eligible limit by the Iranian National Standard (30 μg/kg); therefore, total aflatoxin contamination of the rice in Iran includes no risks to the health of consumers.