Abstract
Brazil is one of the largest food producers and exporters in the world. In the late 20th century, the European Union program for the harmonization of regulations for contaminants in food, including mycotoxins, led to the examination of mycotoxin contamination in foods at a global level. The problem of the rejection of food by the European Union and other countries became a Brazilian national priority because of economic and food safety aspects. Ochratoxin A in coffee and cocoa and aflatoxins in Brazil nuts are examples of the impact of technical trade barriers on Brazilian foods. To overcome these threats, several strategies were undertaken by Brazilian and international organizations. In this context, the Codex Commission on Food Contaminants (CCCF) has emerged as a forum to discuss with more transparency issues related to mycotoxins, focusing on establishing maximum levels and codes of practices for some commodities and mycotoxins to ensure fair trade and food safety. Our experience in investigating and understanding mycotoxin contamination across the food chains in Brazil has contributed nationally and internationally to providing some answers to these issues.
Highlights
Brazil is the fifth largest country in population and geographical area, and the largest in terms of arable land with 851 million hectares
The work that was carried out by our group aimed to investigate: (i) The fungi responsible for Ochratoxin A (OTA) production; (ii) which stages of coffee production were susceptible to infection by fungi capable of OTA production; (iii) the influence of climatic conditions and processing practices on OTA production; (iv) which factors during coffee transport contributed to fungal growth and OTA production; (v) what were the effects of the roasting process on OTA destruction; and (vi) a risk assessment of OTA in coffee consumption
With results obtained in Brazil on OTA-producing fungi and the critical points of OTA production throughout the coffee chain and presented at the 18th International Scientific Colloquium on Coffee in Helsinki [32], the opportunity to help other countries such as Uganda was considered in the light of the Brazilian experience
Summary
Brazil is the fifth largest country in population (around 200 million people) and geographical area, and the largest in terms of arable land with 851 million hectares It hosts five major climatic types: Equatorial, tropical, subtropical, temperate and semiarid and is one of the world’s biggest food producers and exporters (Figure 1). Coffee is a primary product in world trade; the second largest traded commodity in value only mycotoxins, brought about the necessity to examine mycotoxin contamination in foods at a global after oil It plays a vital role in the balance of trade between developed and developing countries. The establishment (MAPA) projections suggest that Brazil will continue to be the largest producer and exporter of coffee of maximum levels for some mycotoxins in the European Union and the CCCF forum showed the for the decade [6].
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