Incidence of aflatoxins in commercial nuts in the holy city of Mekkah

► We screened 264 nut samples from Mekkah markets for AFs contamination using IAC technique. ► The samples that exceeded the MTL applied in EU were quantified using HPLC. ► Percentages of contaminated nuts 26.5%, samples exceeded the MTL of EU is 8.7% and samples exceeded Saudi MTL is 2.65%. ► Current Saudi MTL permitted entry of AFs contaminated nuts which are not permitted in other countries. ► Results emphasize the need to establish a program for AFs prevention and to revise Saudi MTL for AFs.