Mycotoxins in Food

Mycotoxins in Food

The term mycotoxin was used for the first time in 1961 in the aftermath of a veterinary crisis in England, during which thousands of animals died. The disease was linked to a peanut meal, incorporated in the diet, contaminated with a toxin produced by the filamentous fungus Aspergillus flavus (Bennet & Klich, 2003; Richard, 2007). In general, mycotoxins are low-molecular-weight compounds that a...

10 Mycotoxins in Food

Food Mycotoxins: An Update

Unavoidable, natural contaminants in foods may have either chemical or biological origin. Mycotoxins—toxic secondary metabolites of fungi—are biological in origin. Despite efforts to control fungal contamination, toxigenic fungi are ubiquitous in nature and occur regularly in worldwide food supplies due to mold infestation of susceptible agricultural products, such as cereal grains, nuts, and f...

Mycotoxins, a Major Challenge in Global Food Security

Mycotoxins in Norwegian food and feed

Mycotoxins are toxic secondary fungal metabolites. A large variety of mycotoxins have been described, but only a minority of them occur regularly in feed and food items under normal conditions and pose a risk to feed and food safety. The important moulds producing toxins during storage belong to the genera of Penicillium, or Aspergillus. The most important storage toxins are probably ochratoxin...