MAIZE and groundnuts farmers have been warned on unsafe levels of aflatoxin in crops, a poisonous fungus that threatens their livelihoods and the health of consumers as it may cause cancer.
Addressing members of the Parliamentary Committee on Trade, Industry and Environment in Dodoma yesterday, Tanzania Trade Development Authority (TanTrade) Director-General Edwin Rutageruka said the country’s export potential of groundnuts into European and Asian markets have been hampered by the deadly carcinogenic fungus found in the food crops.
Medical and expert studies have suggested that aflatoxin, a well-known toxic chemical produced by a common fungus in soils and crop debris, attacks maize and peanut crops in the field, during harvest and grows to the storage.
FoodWorld 