Survey of fumonisins B1, B2 and B3 in conventional and organic retail corn products in Spain and Italy and estimated dietary exposure

Abstract

A survey was conducted to determine the occurrence of fumonisin B1, B2 and B3 during 2007 in 186 samples of organic and conventional locally available corn products. Samples included baby food (n = 62), corn flour (11), cornflakes (23), pasta (14), cookies (17) and other corn products (59) were obtained from popular markets of Valencia (Spain) and Perugia (Italy). The analytical method used pressurized liquid extraction and liquid chromatography/electrospray ionization tandem mass spectrometry with a triple quadrupole (QqQ) analyser. Of the 104 Spanish samples, 22% contained levels in the range of 2–449 µg kg−1, 2–229 µg kg−1 and 6–105 µg kg−1 for FB1, FB2 and FB3, respectively, while 19 (23%) of the 82 Italian samples were positive with quantifiable levels between 2–235 µg kg−1, 3–187 µg kg−1, and 4–40 µg kg−1 for fumonisins B1, B2 and B3, respectively. Overall, none of the Italian samples and only one organic baby food sample from a Spanish market was above the maximum permitted levels established by European legislation. Fumonisins were found mostly in corn flour followed by cookies and cornflakes. Eleven samples from Spain and nine samples from Italy were organic products, being contaminated the 72% and 77% of the samples, respectively. Analysis of the results showed that levels of fumonisins in corn products were similar in Italy and Spain. The safety of fumonisin intake through corn products was demonstrated by the calculation of the estimated daily intake of both populations considering organic and conventional products separately, which ranged from 1.7 × 10−3 to 0.72 µg kg−1 bw day−1 and comparing them with the provisional maximum total daily intake (PMTDI) of 2 µg kg−1 bw day−1 established by the European Union.