title: Impact of maximum levels in European legislation on exposure of mycotoxins in dried products: case of aflatoxin B1 and ochratoxin A in nuts and dried fruits.
abstract: In this study the impact of setting European criteria on exposure to aflatoxin B1 via nuts and figs and ochratoxin A via dried fruits is evaluated for the Belgian population, as an example of the European population. Two different scenarios were evaluated. In scenario 1 all collected literature data are considered, assuming that there is no border control nor legal limits in Europe. In the second scenario, contamination levels above the maximum limits are excluded. The results from scenario 1 demonstrated that if no regulation is in place, AFB1 and OTA concentrations reported in the analysed food can have potential health risk to the population. The estimated exposure of OTA for scenario 2 is below the TDI of 5 ng/kg BW⋅day, indicating that OTA concentrations accepted by EU legislation pose a low risk to the Belgian population. For AFB1, the MOE values of scenario 2 are above 10,000 and can be considered to be of low health concern, based on BDML10 for humans, except for figs (MOE = 5782). This means that for all matrices, with exception of figs, the maximum values of AFB1 in the European legislation are sufficient to be of a low health concern for consumers.
authors.affiliation: NutriFOODchem unit, Department of Food Safety and Food Quality (partner in Food2Know), Faculty of Bioscience Engineering, Ghent University, Coupure Links 653, Ghent 9000, Belgium.
authors.forename: Evelien
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Van de Perre
authors.affiliation: NutriFOODchem unit, Department of Food Safety and Food Quality (partner in Food2Know), Faculty of Bioscience Engineering, Ghent University, Coupure Links 653, Ghent 9000, Belgium.
authors.forename: Liesbeth
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Jacxsens
authors.affiliation: NutriFOODchem unit, Department of Food Safety and Food Quality (partner in Food2Know), Faculty of Bioscience Engineering, Ghent University, Coupure Links 653, Ghent 9000, Belgium.
authors.forename: Carl
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Lachat
authors.affiliation: Royal International Inspection Laboratories (RIIL), Sokhna Port- Suez, Egypt.
authors.forename: Fouad
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: El Tahan
authors.affiliation: NutriFOODchem unit, Department of Food Safety and Food Quality (partner in Food2Know), Faculty of Bioscience Engineering, Ghent University, Coupure Links 653, Ghent 9000, Belgium. Electronic address: Bruno.DeMeuleaer@UGent.be.
authors.forename: Bruno
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: De Meulenaer
mesh_terms: D016604:Aflatoxin B1 / Q000032:analysis* / Q000592:standards; D002851:Chromatography, High Pressure Liquid; D005062:European Union; D030681:Ficus / Q000382:microbiology; D005506:Food Contamination / Q000032:analysis*; D005511:Food Handling; D005516:Food Microbiology; D059022:Food Safety; D005638:Fruit / Q000382:microbiology*; D009754:Nuts / Q000382:microbiology*; D009793:Ochratoxins / Q000032:analysis* / Q000592:standards; D018570:Risk Assessment
chemical_list: D009793:Ochratoxins; C025589:ochratoxin A; D016604:Aflatoxin B1
keywords: Aflatoxin; Dried fruit; Exposure assessment; Legislation; Nuts; Ochratoxin