Harmful Effects of Aflatoxin

 

Food and feed contamination by mycotoxins (toxic substance produced by fungi) has become a grave problem to food manufacturers. Among various types of mycotoxin fungi aflatoxins (AFs) are being regarded as highly toxic and harmful. 

  • What is aflatoxin?
  • Aflatoxin is a toxic substance produced by certain fungi found on agricultural crops such as wheat, cereal grains, corn, peanuts, cottonseed, tree nuts, dried fruit, and some spices such as chili and paprika. They produce this substance during metabolism. There is a range of aflatoxin named as B1, B2, G1, G2, M1 AND M2.

  • Which fungi produces aflatoxin?
  • The main fungi that produce aflatoxins are Aspergillus flavus and Aspergillus parasiticus, which are abundant in warm and humid regions. Aflatoxin-producing fungi can contaminate crops mainly in the field, at harvest or during storage.
  • How are people exposed to aflatoxin?
  • They can be exposed to aflatoxins by eating contaminated food (corn, peanut, cereal etc.) or by consuming meat or dairy products from animals that are fed with contaminated food. Farmers and other agricultural workers may be also exposed to this by inhaling the dust generated during the handling and processing of contaminated crops and foods.
  • How is aflatoxin harmful for people?
  • Aflatoxins can cause liver cancer among people. Children are more vulnerable for aflatoxin exposure. They can affect with development delay, stunned growth, liver damage and liver cancer as a result of exposing to aflatoxin. Whether adults have higher resistance to aflatoxin exposure, chronic low-level exposure to aflatoxin may be risky.
  • How to reduce exposure to aflatoxin?
  • You can reduce exposure to aflatoxin by purchasing only trusted major commercial brands nuts and cereal food and feed. When you buy ground nuts, corn, rice etc. look for clean and fresh ones free from fungi. Farmers, grain mill workers, and food processors can minimize the growth of aflatoxin by following good management practices that include regular aflatoxin test.

*Some statistics have been extracted from trusted sources. 

By Gunaratna Gamage

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