Assessing Aflatoxin Exposure Risk from Peanuts and Peanut Products Imported to Taiwan

Keng-Wen Lien,Min-Hsiung Pan,Xin Wang,Min-Pei Ling

doi:10.3390/toxins11020080

Abstract

Aflatoxins are highly toxic and cause disease in livestock and humans. In order to assess Taiwan population exposure to aflatoxin from peanuts and peanut products, a total of 1089 samples of peanut candy, peanut butter, and peanuts etc. were collected in the period from 2011 to 2017 and analyzed using a liquid chromatography/tandem mass spectrometer. The overall mean contamination levels of aflatoxin in peanuts and peanut products were 2.40 μg/kg of aflatoxin B1, 0.41 μg/kg of aflatoxin B2, 0.19 μg/kg of aflatoxin G1, and 0.03 μg/kg of aflatoxin G2. We use margin of exposure (MOE) as a tool to improve food safety management. According to MOE levels of aflatoxins in peanuts and peanut products from China, Indonesia, Thailand, the United States, and the Philippines were above the safe lower limit of 10,000, indicating an absence of public health or safety risk for the majority of the population. However, products from Vietnam were under the MOE safe lower limit, suggesting that regulatory actions must be continued to avoid excessive consumer exposure.

Highlights

Aflatoxins are toxic metabolites produced by Aspergillus, which includes the species A. flavus, A. parasiticus, and A. nomius [1]
We assessed the exposure of population groups of various ages to aflatoxins in imported peanuts and peanut products, and the resultant health risks
A total of 1089 samples of peanut candy, peanut butter, and peanut products imported from various countries were collected in the period from 2011 to 2017

Summary

Introduction

Aflatoxins are toxic metabolites produced by Aspergillus, which includes the species A. flavus, A. parasiticus, and A. nomius [1]. The types of Aflatoxins presenting most significant public-health concerns are aflatoxin B1, aflatoxin B2, aflatoxin G1, aflatoxin G2, aflatoxin M1, and aflatoxin M2, all of which are highly toxic and contain carcinogenic compounds that cause disease in livestock and humans [2,3]. The International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) has classified aflatoxin B1 as a. Aflatoxins are found in many tropical and subtropical countries where temperature and humidity conditions are optimal for mold growth and for production of these toxins [5]. Aflatoxins are small, stable molecules that cannot be destroyed by heat treatment or during processing [6,7]. Reduction or inactivation of aflatoxins in food and feedstuffs is a major global concern. In Taiwan, Toxins 2019, 11, 80; doi:10.3390/toxins11020080 www.mdpi.com/journal/toxins

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