Abstract
Aflatoxins are poisonous carcinogens produced by fungi, mainly Aspergillus flavus and Aspergillus parasiticus. Aflatoxins can contaminate a variety of livestock feeds and cause enormous economic losses, estimated at between US$52.1 and US$1.68 billion annually for the U.S. corn industry alone. In addition, aflatoxin can be transferred from the diet to the milk of cows as aflatoxin M1 (AFM1), posing a significant human health hazard. In dairy cows, sheep and goats, chronic exposure to dietary aflatoxin can reduce milk production, impair reproduction and liver function, compromise immune function, and increase susceptibility to diseases; hence, strategies to lower aflatoxin contamination of feeds and to prevent or reduce the transfer of the toxin to milk are required for safeguarding animal and human health and improving the safety of dairy products and profitability of the dairy industry. This article provides an overview of the toxicity of aflatoxin to ruminant livestock, its occurrence in livestock feeds, and the effectiveness of different strategies for preventing and mitigating aflatoxin contamination of feeds.
Highlights
Aflatoxin contamination is common in various food and feed ingredients [1,2,3]
The U.S Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has set an action level for aflatoxin M1 (AFM1) of 0.50 μg/kg in liquid milk, total aflatoxins of 20 μg/kg in feed ingredients offered to dairy cattle, 100 μg/kg for breeding cattle, 300 μg/kg for finishing beef cattle and 20 μg/kg in foods intended for human consumption [7]
OBrian et al [44] showed that an isolate of A. flavus had maximum aflatoxin production at 28–30 ◦C but production decreased at temperatures close to 37 ◦C, which is the optimum temperature for growth of A. flavus
Summary
Aflatoxin contamination is common in various food and feed ingredients [1,2,3]. The consumption of aflatoxin-contaminated diets by dairy cows, sheep or goats results in transfer of the toxin to milk, resulting in a human health hazard [4,5]. Asia and North America had aflatoxin concentrations above the FDA action level for positive feed samples (20 μg/kg). Some surveys from certain countries in Asia, the Middle East, South America, and Africa reported positive contamination in up to 100% of samples, and many of these had concentrations exceeding the FDA action level of 0.05 μg/kg AFM1. These authors reported that several nations including Pakistan, India, and several sub-Saharan African nations, had AFM1 levels in milk that substantially exceeded the United States and European Union regulatory limits for AFM1, indicating potential risk to individuals in those nations with high milk consumption.
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