Mycotoxins in Food

Mycotoxins are naturally occurring toxins produced by certain moulds (fungi) and can be found in food. The moulds grow on a variety of different crops and foodstuffs including cereals, nuts, spices, dried fruits, apples and coffee beans, often under warm and humid conditions. Mycotoxins can cause a variety of adverse health effects and pose a serious health threat to both humans and livestock; The adverse health effects of mycotoxins range from acute poisoning to long-term effects such as immune deficiency and cancer. Mycotoxin contamination of food is an ongoing global concern. Mycotoxin contamination is considered an unavoidable and unpredictable problem, even where good agricultural, storage and processing practices are implemented, posing a difficult challenge to food safety. Additionally, many mycotoxins are not easily eliminated during food processing because of their stability against heat, physical, and chemical treatments. Furthermore, feed contamination can also pose an extra hazard for food safety due to the possible carry-over of mycotoxins to animal-derived products such as milk, meat, and egg, leading to mycotoxin intake by humans.