Occurrence, Dietary Risk Assessment and Cancer Risk Estimates of Aflatoxins and Ochratoxin A in Powdered Baby Foods Consumed in Turkey.

In this study, the aim was to determine the levels of aflatoxins and ochratoxin A (OTA) in baby food consumed in Hatay using fluorescence-detector HPLC (HPLC-FLD) and to reveal the health risks that may occur in babies through consumption of these foods. To determine the dietary intake and to reveal the health risk assessment, the estimated daily intake (EDI) for all mycotoxins, the margin of exposure (MOE) for aflatoxin B (AFB), aflatoxin M (AFM) and OTA, the hazard index (HI) and the consumption-related hepatocellular cancer risk for AFM were calculated. It was reported that 11.5% and 8.2% of the analyzed samples exceeded the legal limit set for AFB and OTA, respectively. However, it was found that AFM concentrations in all samples did not exceed the legal limit. Based on the estimated consumption amounts of the baby foods, the HI values calculated for AFM were below 1, and the MOE values calculated for AFB and AFM were above 10.000, indicating that the consumption of baby foods does not pose a risk regarding AFB and AFM for babies. However, it was determined in all other products, except for toddler formula, that the MOE values calculated for OTA were below 10.000, indicating that their consumption may pose serious health problems in babies.