Aflatoxin contamination and exposure in processed cereal-based complementary foods for infants and young children in greater Accra, Ghana

- Introductory part of the manuscript.
- Extraction and purification and clean-up of the food samples.
- HPLC analysis conditions and aflatoxin content determination.
- Method performance and validation.
- Sample analysis of the results and the assessment of aflatoxin intake.

In the study, aflatoxin levels were assessed in thirty five (35) cereal-based food products intended for infants and young children. Additionally, the results showed that 71% of the processed foods intended for infants contained AFB1 (0.18 ± 0.01 to 36.10 ± 0.32 μgkg−1) levels higher than the European Union permissible limits of 0.1 μg kg−1. Aflatoxin intake was estimated using aflatoxin levels in the food products and the estimated individual consumption rates. The study also revealed mixed cereals as having the highest intake of aflatoxin B1 contaminants (0.005-0.852 μgkg−1bw d−1; 0.004-0.657 μgkg−1bwd−1) with mean estimated daily intake (EDI) of 0.23 ± 0.16 μgkg−1bwd−1 and 0.153 ± 0.13 μgkg−1bwd−1 for infants and young children respectively. The estimated AFT intake recorded for infants and young children for all the cereal-based food ranged from 0.005 to 1.054 μgkg−1bwd−1 and 0.004-0.838 μgkg−1bwd−1 respectively.