Analysis of RASFF notifications on cereals and cereal-based products contaminated with mycotoxins in the period from 01/01/2015 to 31/12/2019

Abstract

The Rapid Alert System for Food and Feed (RASFF) is designed to respond promptly to the health risks associated with food, food contact materials or feed by enabling fast exchange of information between bodies and institutions involved in the system. Mycotoxins, secondary metabolites produced by moulds, are common contaminants found in cereals and cereal-based product all over the world that can be harmful to human (and animal) health. The aim of this study was to analyse RASFF notifications on cereals and cereal-based products contaminated with mycotoxins in the period from 01/01/2015 to 31/12/2019. All data were downloaded from the RASFF database (RASFF portal) and processed in MS Excel 2010. The collected data provided information on the: notifying country, country(ies) of origin and distribution of the contaminated product, notification basis, notification type, risk decision, distribution status, action taken, type of mycotoxin and specific cereal or cereal-based product in which the mycotoxin has been determined. Nearly half of the reported food products originated from Italy, Pakistan, India, Serbia and Sri Lanka. More than half notifications were published by Germany, Switzerland, Italy and Belgium. Only in less than one-fifth of the notifications the country of origin of the contaminated product was also the notifying country. Contaminated products in more than two-thirds of cases were maize, rice and rye grains and their products. Aflatoxin B1 was the most frequent mycotoxin, present in more than two-fifths of contaminated cereals and cereal-based products. The majority of the notifications were classified as alert notifications and a large majority of total number of notifications were of serious risk. Regarding the distribution status, over two-fifths of contaminated products were distributed to other member countries and in almost half of the notifications contaminated products were withdrawn or recalled.