Total aflatoxins

Total Aflatoxin Levels in Peanut Butter ELISA Method (Biokits) Cortecs Diagnostics Ltd. 991.45 129... 

Work Item H determination of aflatoxin Bi and total aflatoxins by immunoaffinity column clean-up and HPLC in fig paste, pistachios, peanut butter and paprika powder. 

Table 11.7 FDA guidance levels for total aflatoxins in livestock feeds and human foods...

For aflatoxins, an ML of 15 /xg/kg for total aflatoxins in peanuts intended for further processing was agreed by the 23rd CAC in 1999, as well as a draft sampling plan, on an interim basis, to be further developed by the CCFAC and the CCMAS. A proposal for an ML for aflatoxin Mi in milk is also in the pipeline, whereas a Codex Code of Practice for the reduction of aflatoxins in raw materials and supplementary feedstuffs for milk-producing animals was adopted by the CAC in 1997. 

A third collaborative study (10) was conducted examining the Immuno Dot Screen Cup (Afla-20, IDS Cup), a test kit containing antibodies with considerable cross reactivity with aflatoxins B2 and G,. The manufacturer s procedure was also modified to increase the reliability of detection at 20 ng/g total aflatoxins, and to broaden the applicability to include peanut butter samples. 

Recently we completed an evaluation of the effectiveness of the Aflatest (Vicam) immunoaffinity column for analysis of corn, peanuts and peanut butter for aflatoxin (11). In this procedure the sample is extracted with Me0H/H20, filtered, and the extract diluted to <30% MeOH with water. An aliquot is then applied to the immunoaffinity column. The column is then washed with water and the aflatoxins eluted with methanol. Total aflatoxins are then determined by solution fluorometry with bromine (SFB), or individual toxins by reverse phase high performance liquid chromatography with post column I2 derivatization (PCD). In the collaborative study corn samples naturally contaminated with aflatoxins and samples of corn, peanuts and peanut butter spiked at 30, 20 and 10 ng/g, were analyzed by 24 collaborators. The results of this study are tabulated in Table V. 

Zheng Z, Humprey CW, King RS, Richard JL (2005) Validation of an ELISA test kit for the detection of total aflatoxins in grain and grain products. Mycopathologia 159 255-263... 

In the United States, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) regulates the quality of food, including the levels of environmental contaminants. The FDA has established guidelines for the levels of aflatoxins permitted in human foodstuffs and animal feed. The maximum permitted level for human food is 20 parts per billion of total aflatoxins. Higher levels are permissible for feed destined for animal consumption. 

AgricultureCanada has an ongoing program of testing feeds from the domestic market and export certification for aflatoxin 1, B2, G1, G2) residues using an HPLP technique sensitive at the 2.5 ppb level for each aflatoxin with results being reported as "total" aflatoxin. To help increase sample throughput and reduce analysis time, four commercially available enzyme immunoassay tests for aflatoxin residues were evaluated. 

The above experience stimulated a more extensive follow-up study in Guangxi Province. To assess the dose and excretion of AFBl and its adducts in chronically exposed people, the following protocol was developed. The diets of 30 males and 12 females, ages ranging from 25 to 64 years, were studied for one week and the total aflatoxin intake was determined for each day. Urine was obtained in two twelve hour fractions for three consecutive days during the one... 

Is depicted the HPLC profile from a naturally contaminated peanut sample. This sample when analyzed contained 943 ppb (ug/kg) total aflatoxins. This chromatogram demonstrates that aflatoxins can be identified without any further deriv-atlzatlon by using a diode array detector after the affinity clean-up procedure and reversed phase HPLC. This detector obtains the spectrum of chromatographic peaks. Since as little as 2 ppb In the diet of rats (2) has been found to produce liver tumors following life time exposure, the levels of aflatoxins in the diets of people eating this level of contaminated foods would be of serious concern. 

The Codex Committee on Food Additives and Contaminants at its thirty-eighth session (Codex Alimentarius Commission, 2006) requested that the Committee conduct a dietary exposure assessment for total aflatoxins (AFT) from consumption of tree nuts (ready-to-eat)—in particular, almonds, Brazil nuts, hazelnuts and pistachios—and analyse the impact on dietary exposure of hypothetical maximum limits (MLs) of 4, 8, 10 and 15 pg/kg with consideration of the overall dietary AFT exposure, including consumption of maize and groundnuts. An additional request was received by the Committee to take into account in its assessment an additional hypothetical ML of 20 pg/kg. 

AOAC International (2000a) Aflatoxin B1 and total aflatoxins in peanut butter, pistachio paste, tig paste, and paprika powder immunoaffinity column-liquid chromatography with postcolumn derivatization. In Official methods of analysis of AOAC International, 17th ed. Gaithersburg, MD, USA, AOAC International (AOAC Method 999.07). 

Codex Committee on Contaminants in Food (2007) CX/CF 07/1/9. Discussion paper on maximum levels for total aflatoxins in ready-to-eat almonds, hazelnuts and pistachios. Rome, Italy, Joint FAO/WHO Food Standards Programme, Codex Committee on Contaminants in Food (ftp //ftp.fao.org/Codex/cccf1/cf01 09e.pdf). 

United States Food and Dmg Administration (2006) Report on total aflatoxins levels In domestic samples of tree nuts examined by the Food and Drug Administration, United States of America. Data submitted by the USA. 

Total aflatoxin levels in peanut butter -ELISA method... 

Cards such as EZ-screen from R-Biopharm, which have been developed for total aflatoxins (cutting levels 20 and 5 pgperkg), for ochratoxin A, and for zearalenone (cutting levels of 20 and 100 pg per kg, respectively). 

Cups such as Afla-20 Cup , from International Diagnostic System, working for total aflatoxins with cutting levels of 20 pg per kg. 

Because of the uncertainty about the chronic toxicity of aflatoxin to man, many countries attempt to restrict its presence in food and feeds there are differences in approach from one country to another. The Food and Drugs Administration of the United States has set a level of 20/zg total aflatoxins/kg food or feed as the maximum permissible, this being a concentration which could be accurately and reproducibly determined. As analytical skills improve, there are proposals to reduce this to 15 //g/kg in consumer peanut products. The United States does not permit the dilution of consignments shown to contain aflatoxin with clean material. In Germany, levels of aflatoxin permissible in food are stricter but those in animal feeds are more permissive. In some countries there may be no legislation covering the presence of specific mycotoxins but Zambia, for example, has a statutory requirement that visibly diseased kernels should not constitute more than 2 % of maize intended for human consumption. ... 

In a subsequent paper, Shih and Marth (1975) reported on the production of aflatoxin and its partition between the medium and the mycelium. The maximal production of total aflatoxin and of aflatoxin Bj, Gj, and G2 occurred at 5 days, as against 7 days for aflatoxin B2. Under these conditions, more than 60% of the total aflatoxins appeared in the mycelium after 5 days. 

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