Survey of mycotoxins in cereal and cereal-based foods: Year 1

Mycotoxins are naturally-occurring chemicals produced by certain fungi. Some of these mycotoxins have been associated with a variety of adverse human health effects and are therefore regulated within the EU to minimise consumer exposure through food. Mycotoxins can occur in a wide range of foods, including cereals, nuts, spices, fruit, coffee, milk and alcoholic beverages, and at any stage throughout the food-chain.

The Chemical Safety Division within the Food Standards Agency has commissioned a four-year rolling surveillance programme to quantify a number of mycotoxins in a variety of foods. Here we report the results of the first year of surveillance, which focussed on a range of cereals and cereal-based products.

The survey shows that the vast majority of the samples tested (97%) contained levels of mycotoxins below the regulatory limits. In total, only 7 samples from the 220 analysed (3%) were found to contain levels of mycotoxins above the regulatory limits laid down in EU legislation, and in most cases these levels were only marginally above the limit.

Where levels where found above the regulatory limit, the Agency investigated and took immediate action on the findings, to ensure any non-compliant foodstuffs were withdrawn from the market. The European Commission and other member states were also informed so that they could take any necessary action.

The results from this survey do not raise any significant concerns for consumer health in the UK.