Within the framework of total diet studies, the Catalan Food Safety Agency (ACSA) publishes a second study on the evaluation of mycotoxins: “Evaluation of the dietary exposure of the Catalan population to mycotoxins of the genus Fusarium”.
In 2014, a first study was published in which the presence of the main mycotoxins in food intended for human consumption in the Catalan market was determined, and the intake of food linked to this contamination to estimate the food exposure of the population residing in Catalonia, and evaluate the risk to health (ACSA, 2014). Considering the results obtained, the ACSA considered it necessary to carry out this second, more specific study on mycotoxins, evaluating those that were found most frequently in the foods of the Catalan market, the mycotoxins of the genus Fusarium, and also taking into account the most exposed population groups.
The present study shows that the mycotoxins detected with greater frequency were DON and ENNB followed, with a much lower frequency, by mycotoxin T-2 and mycotoxins FB1 and DON-3G. The rest of mycotoxins analyzed (3-ADON, 15-ADON, NIV, FUS-X, zearalenone, HT-2, FB2 and FB3) will always present levels below the detection limit.
All the age groups evaluated have an exposure to DON and ENNB lower than the respective safety values. The average exposure of the adult population and children in Catalonia to the mycotoxin DON presents values between 7.5% and 10.1% of the safety value. The average exposure of the population to ENNB presents values that are two orders of magnitude lower than the extrapolated safety values.
Total diet studies make it possible to better understand the reality linked to the main chemical pollutants that reach the Catalan market, and in this way specific decisions can be made to correct possible risk situations for the health of consumers.
FoodWorld 