First report: Exposure estimates to ochratoxin A through wheat bread and rice intake in Turkey

• The presence and levels of OTA in wheat bread and rice from Turkey were assessed.
• The HPLC-FLD method was validated in terms of linearity, sensitivity and accuracy.
• 9.8% of wheat bread and 5.2% of rice contained OTA.
• All results were well below the EU ML of 3 μg/kg.
• This is the first report of exposure to OTA from wheat bread and rice in Turkey.

A total of 160 samples of fresh wheat bread and rice from Turkey were analysed for the presence of ochratoxin A (OTA). The samples were analysed using a high performance liquid chromatography coupled with fluorescence detection (HPLC-FLD). The method was previously validated and showed good selectivity, linearity, sensitivity and accuracy. The uncertainty associated with the analytical method was less than 20%. OTA was found in 9.8% of wheat bread (10 out of 102 samples) and 5.2% of rice (3 out of 58 samples) at levels ranging from