Since the discovery of the aflatoxins in the 1960s, mycotoxin regulations have been established in many countries, both to protect the consumer from the harmful effects of these toxins that may contaminate foodstuffs and to ensure fair practices in food trade. This publication updates developments in worldwide mycotoxin regulation as of December 2003, based on an international enquiry carried out in 2002/2003.
Mycotoxins are produced worldwide by several fungi on a wide range of agricultural commodities and are closely related to human and animal food chains. Examining mycotoxins and their impact from a public health viewpoint, this book provides an overview and introduction to the subject and examines the health, trade and legislation issues involved. Management of mycotoxins is discussed in detail as well as the global problems caused by mycotoxins.
The role of animal feed in the production of safe food is recognised worldwide, and several events have underlined its impact on public health, feed and food trade, and food security. The Expert Meeting was convened to review current knowledge on animal feed and its impact on food safety, and provide orientation and advice on this matter to international organisations. This is the report of the meeting, with the experts' conclusions and recommendations.
Mycotoxins are toxins produced by aerobic, microscopic fungus under special conditions of moisture and temperature. They colonize in a variety of foods from harvest to the grocer. Mycotoxins have gained world wide interest in recent years with the revelation of the effect of these toxins on health. A current example is the presence of ochratoxin A, a human carcinogen and nephrotoxin, in wines. The increased concern about fruit safety has led to increased studies throughout the world and enhanced awareness for stringent regulations governing mycotoxin limits in food.Presented in three defined sections, this is the first book to provide comprehensive analysis of the main mycotoxins contaminating fruits and vegetables and their derived products. The first section provides a safety evaluation of mycotoxins in fruits and vegetables, details regarding factors affecting mycotoxin production and diffusion in the fruit tissue, and recent methods for detection of mycotoxigenic fungi and mycotoxins produced by the fungi. The second part takes a critical look at the main individual mycotoxins and the third section focuses on approaches for prevention and control. - The first book dedicated to mycotoxins in fruits and vegetables - Presents mycological, mycotoxicological and phytopathological aspects of fruits and vegetables - Includes an analysis of detection, prevention and control methods for mycotoxigenic fungi and the mycotoxins they produce - Provides a complete risk assessment and safety evaluation of mycotoxins in perishable produce
Mycotoxins are secondary metabolites produced by fungi in a wide range of foods (cereals, peanut, tree nuts, dried fruits, coffee, cocoa, grapes, spices...) both in the field and after harvest, particularly during storage. They can also be found in processed foods of plant origin, or by transfer, in food products of animal (milk, eggs, meat and offal). Mycotoxins are of major concern since they can cause acute or chronic intoxications in both humans and animals which are sometimes fatal. Many countries, particularly in Europe, have set maximum acceptable levels for mycotoxins in food and feed. The book reviews the latest literature and innovations on important aspects of mycotoxins, e.g. mycotoxin producing fungi and the related ecosystems, mycotoxin occurrence, toxicity, analysis and management. Quantitative estimations of impacts of climate change on mycotoxin occurrence have been made recently, using predictive modelling. There is also a growing interest in the occurrence and toxicity of multiple mycotoxins in food and feed, including emerging or modified forms of mycotoxins. Innovative tools were also developed to detect and quantify toxinogenic fungi and their toxins. In order to reduce the use of chemicals that are harmful to the environment and health of consumers, alternative methods of prevention and decontamination of mycotoxins were tested in pre- and post-harvest, using microorganisms, natural substances or radiation treatments.
Mycotoxins - toxic secondary metabolites produced by mycotoxigenic fungi – pose a significant risk to the food chain. Indeed, they may be the most hazardous of all food contaminants in terms of chronic toxicity and legislative limits on their levels in food and feed continue to be developed worldwide. Rapid and reliable methods for the determination of both mycotoxigenic fungi and mycotoxins in food and feed are therefore essential. This book reviews current and emerging methods in this area.Part one focuses on the essentials of mycotoxin determination, covering sampling, sample preparation and clean-up and key determination techniques, such as chromatographic separation, liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry and immunochemical methods. Part two then goes on to describe quality assurance, official methods and performance criteria for determining mycotoxins in food and feed. Topics covered include laboratory accreditation, method validation and measurement uncertainty. The development and analysis of biomarkers for mycotoxins are discussed in part three. Individual chapters focus on detecting exposure in humans and animals. Part four is concerned with the processes involved in determining mycotoxigenic fungi in food and feed. It also describes the identification of genes and gene clusters involved in mycotoxin synthesis, as well as DNA barcoding of toxigenic fungi. Finally, part five explores some of the emerging methods for mycotoxin analysis, ranging from bio-sensing to spectroscopic techniques.With its distinguished editor and international team of contributors, Determining mycotoxins and mycotoxigenic fungi in food and feed is a standard reference for all those concerned with reducing mycotoxin contamination in the food chain. - Focuses on the essentials of mycotoxin determination, covering sampling, sample preparation, clean-up and key determination techniques - Documents quality assurance and official methods and performance criteria for determining mycotoxins in food and feed - Explores the processes of determining mycotoxigenic fungi in food and feed including the identification of genes and gene clusters
This book presents a comprehensive view on mycotoxins of agricultural as well as non-agricultural environments and their health effects in humans and animals. Mycotoxins have immunosuppressive effects; but some of them can cause cancers, mutagenicity, neurotoxicity, liver and kidney damage, birth defects, DNA damage and respiratory disorders. The problem of mycotoxins is long-lasting and their direct or indirect exposures to humans and animals must be further discussed. The first chapter will cover the historical perspective of mycotoxins along with timeline while the second one will provide overview including classification of mycotoxins and mycotoxicoses. The comprehensive information/ literature on traditional, emerging and mushroom mycotoxins will be given in chapters 3, 4 and 5 respectively. Chapter 6 will deal with mycotoxins co-occurrence poisoning whereas new and masked mycotoxins will be described in chapter 7. The important aspects of mycotoxin studies like extraction, characterization and analysis and management strategies will be summarized in 8 and 9 chapters. The last chapter of the book will cover the recent developments in toxicokinetic studies of mycotoxins. The book will have the most up-to-date information and recent discoveries to deliver accurate data and to illustrate essential points to a wide range of readers including mycologists, clinicians, agricultural scientists, chemists, veterinarians, environmentalists and food scientists.
According to the presented studies, the health condition of animals in rearing and breeding should be regularly monitored. This would allow early detection of delicate deviations in the body of clinically healthy individuals. Unfortunately, regular monitoring of the health of animals in commercial production is not performed. It follows that this type of research should be an introduction to further, more inquisitive steps. This can form the basis for further courses of action, indicating which organs or tissues field doctors or researchers should be interested in and what to pay attention to in order to find the correct answer, concerning the situation in the animal body. In the future, we should determine biomedical markers for use in precision veterinary medicine. In human medicine, this has been practiced with great success. The problem, however, is that we are getting to know more and more substances produced by mold fungi. This causes a build-up of new interpretative problems, causing health conditions (diagnosis), as well as analytical problems. To fully understand the results we need new techniques to assess toxicological and chemical hazards, including those related to undesirable substances. We need a solid knowledge of the biological pathways underlying the toxicity and tolerance to interference factors toxicological processes. We hope that the presented study will allow for a better understanding of mycotoxicoses that bother us and our animals, which will allow for more effective preventive actions.
Foodborne illnesses are a global public health concern with implications worldwide. Mycotoxins are naturally occurring toxins produced by microfungi that are capable of causing disease and death in. living organisms. They are recognized as a major economic problem due to their impact on human health, animal productivity, and.domestic and.international.trade. This book provides updated information about foodborne mycotoxins, their toxicities, new determination methods, prevention strategies, and regulations around the world.
