Surveys of aflatoxin B_1 contamination of retail Turkish foods and of products intended for export between 2007 and 2009

摘要

Surveys were carried out between 2007 and 2009 to determine the aflatoxin B_1 content of 3345 commercial Turkish foodstuffs supplied by producers for testing for their own purposes or for export certification. To simplify the reporting of data, foods were categorized as: 1, high sugar products with nuts; 2, nuts and seeds; 3, spices; 4, grain; 5, cocoa products; 6, dried fruit and vegetables; 7, processed cereal products; 8, tea; and 9, baby food and infant formula. Aflatoxin analysis was carried out by high-performance liquid chromatography with fluorescence detection after immunoaffinity column clean-up, with a recoveries ranging from 91% to 99%, depending on the matrix. Of the 3345 samples analysed, 94% contained aflatoxin B_1 below the European Union limit of 2μg kg~(-1), which applies to nuts, dried fruit, and cereals products. The 6% of the 206 contaminated samples were mainly nuts and spices. For pistachios, 24%, 38%, and 42% of the totals of 207, 182, and 24 samples tested for 2007, 2008 and 2009, respectively, were above 2μg kg~(-1), with 50 samples containing aflatoxin B_1 at levels ranging from 10 to 477μg kg~(-1).