Aflatoxins in foodstuffs: Occurrence and risk assessment in Turkey

Abstract

This study aims to determine dietary exposure to aflatoxin B-1 (AFB(1)) and the sum of aflatoxins (AFT) for the Turkish population and assess the risks to human health related to aflatoxins. A total of 1473 results on five main food categories commercialised in Turkey in 2002-2019 were used in the risk assessment. In the adult population, the mean middle bound (MB) exposure levels were 0.433 ng kg(-1) b.w. per day for AFB(1) and 0.511 ng kg(-1) b.w. per day for AFT. The 95th percentile dietary exposure of AFB(1) and AFT was estimated at 1.19 and 1.29 ng kg(-1) b.w. per day, respectively. Pistachios (44.4 %) made the highest contribution to mean AFB(1) exposure in Turkish adults, followed by maize/maize flour (16.2 %), groundnuts (13.8 %), chilli (10.1 %), walnuts (4.9 %), hazelnuts (4.0 %), chocolate (3.9 %) and others (2.7 %). The margin of exposure (MOE) estimates for mean and 95th percentile exposures to AFB(1) are considerably lower than 10 000, which raises a potential health concern for Turkish adults.