Aflatoxin B1 and B2 in cereal – based baby foods and corn based snacks from Egypt markets: Occurrence and estimation of the daily intake of AFB1.

Abstract

Mycological survey was carried out to identify the molds and afllatoxins present in cereal- derived products. One hundred samples of cereal - derived products (50 samples of cereal- based baby foods, for infants and young children, and 50 samples of corn- based snacks),purchased from supermarkets and small shops in Cairo and El-Qaliubia Governorates, were used for fungal quantification , isolation, identification and analyzed for the presence of aflatoxins (B1 , B2) using High Performance Liquid Chromatography (HPLC).Aspergillus (41%), Penicillium (16%), Alternaria(10%), Fusarium (8%) and Cladosporium(3%) were the prevalent genera in the samples. Aflatoxin B1(AFB1) could be detected in 14% of the cereal samples purchased from Cairo and in 40% ,28% corn-based snacks samples purchased from Cairo and El-Qaliubia respectively. Aflatoxin B2 (AFB2) could be detected in 2% of the cereal samples of Cairo and in 4%, 24% of the corn-based snacks samples of Cairo and El-Qaliubia respectively. The results revealed the level AFB1 in 13% of the samples examined was higher than the EU permission limit (2 µg Kg-1) and the daily intake, for all ages, of the products of corn-based snacks (from 30 to 50 g), contaminated with AFB1 is ranging from 0.42 to 23.75 ng kg-1 bw per day, it is higher than the PMTD1 (Provisional Maximum Tolerable Daily Intake , 1.0 ng AFB1 kg-1 body weight for adult and children without hepatitis B), also there is a significant risk for babies (6,12 and 24 months ), who occasionally consumes a cereal- based food (30 g per day),from the most contaminated sample, the estimated daily intake would be from 6.66 to 11.1 ng kg-1 bw per day and even in consumption of the less contaminated sample, the estimated daily intake is from 1.62 to 2.7 ng kg-1 ng kg-1 bw per day. The food-born mycotoxins with the greatest significance for human health in developing countries is aflatoxins thus, routine measurements of the toxin levels in foods should be carried out to prevent their harmful effects on health.