Gallo Pasquale, Imbimbo Samantha, Alvino Silvana, Castellano Vincenzo, Arace Olga, Soprano Vittorio, Esposito Mauro, Serpe Francesco Paolo, Sansone Donato
Istituto Zooprofilattico Sperimentale del Mezzogiorno, 80055 Portici, Italy.
Toxins (Basel). 2021 May 22;13(6):368. doi: 10.3390/toxins13060368.
This study reports the results of aflatoxins B/G monitoring in food of vegetal origin, imported in Southern Italy from extra-European Union countries. From 2017 to 2020, we analyzed 1675 samples using an accredited HPLC method with fluorescence detection. We found out 295 samples (17.6%) were contaminated by aflatoxin B1, 204 by aflatoxins B/G (12.2%), while 75 (4.5%) resulted non-compliant to maximum limits set by the European Union law. Most of the batches tested were unprocessed food; the distribution of contamination levels, incidence of non-compliant samples, inference for different kinds of food are reported. The study focuses on the food more susceptible to contamination by aflatoxins; nuts are the food more controlled, showing the higher number of non-compliant samples. Our study confirms that pistachio nuts, hazelnuts and almonds are the major sources of exposure for consumers. Still, other products, such as chili pepper and Brazil nuts, need to get more information about their contamination levels. The study's findings are discussed in the perspective of the last opinion by EFSA about chronic exposure to aflatoxins. A case study to evaluate not compliance of a composed food to the European Union law is reported.
本研究报告了从欧盟以外国家进口到意大利南部的植物源性食品中黄曲霉毒素B/ G的监测结果。2017年至2020年期间，我们采用经认可的带荧光检测的高效液相色谱法分析了1675个样本。我们发现295个样本（17.6%）被黄曲霉毒素B1污染，204个样本被黄曲霉毒素B/ G污染（12.2%），而75个样本（4.5%）不符合欧盟法律规定的最大限量。测试的大多数批次为未加工食品；报告了污染水平的分布、不合格样本的发生率以及不同种类食品的推断情况。该研究聚焦于最易受黄曲霉毒素污染的食品；坚果是受检测最多的食品，不合格样本数量也最多。我们的研究证实，开心果、榛子和杏仁是消费者接触黄曲霉毒素的主要来源。不过，其他产品，如辣椒和巴西坚果，需要获取更多关于其污染水平的信息。本研究结果从欧洲食品安全局（EFSA）关于黄曲霉毒素慢性暴露的最新意见角度进行了讨论。报告了一个评估复合食品不符合欧盟法律规定的案例研究。
