Chronic aflatoxin M1 exposure of Hungarian consumers

Abstract

The mycotoxin contamination of foods also appears in the food chain. Aflatoxin is metabolized in animals and its aflatoxin M1 (AFM1) metabolite, which is similarly, but ten times less genotoxic and carcinogenic than aflatoxin B1 (AFB1), is also present in milk, liver and eggs. Of these, the most significant food safety risk is posed by the contamination of milk with AFM1. In our article, the deterministic exposure estimation of Hungarian consumers is presented, based on the AFM1 contamination of milk and dairy products. The results indicate that the exposure of children under three years of age clearly poses a health risk, while the exposure of the 3 to 6 year old age group is borderline. The exposure of older age groups in ng/kg body weight does not pose an immediate health risk due to the increasing body weight. However, it needs to be emphasized that the presence of carcinogenic compounds should be kept to a minimum in all age groups. To this end, we propose an amendment to the regulation regarding the factory inspection of milk.