Worldwide occurrence of mycotoxins in commodities, feeds and feed ingredients

Globalisation of the trade in agricultural commodities has contributed significantly to the discussion about potential hazards involved and has increased in particular the awareness of mycotoxins. Safety awareness in food and feed production has also risen due to the simple fact that methods for testing residues and undesirable substances have become noticeably more sophisticated and more available at all points of the supply chain.A 2-year survey program was initiated by feed additive producer Biomin® in order to evaluate the incidence of mycotoxins in feed and feed raw materials in some of the major animal production regions. Fusarium mycotoxins tested were those known for their impact on feed industry and animal husbandry, namely deoxynivalenol (DON), T-2 toxin, zearalenone (ZON), fumonisins B1, B2, and B3. In addition, ochratoxin A and aflatoxin B1, which are not produced by Fusarium, were tested and are reported herein since interactions between Fusarium toxins and other non-Fusarium mycotoxins are possible. A total of 2753 analyses were performed on 1507 samples sourced from European and Mediterranean markets, and 6391 analyses were undertaken on 1291 samples originating from the Asian-Pacific region. More than half of materials sampled in Europe were contaminated at levels above the limit of quantification of methods applied, while one third of tests on Asian-Pacific sourced samples were positive. European samples had DON, ZON and T-2 toxin as major contaminants, materials from Asia and the Pacific tended to be contaminated with DON, ZON, fumonisins, and aflatoxins.