Investigation And Risk Assessment Of Ochratoxin A In Main Foods In China

Ochratoxins are secondary metabolites mainly produced by Aspergillus ochraceus and Penicillium verrucosum.These fungi are ubiquitous and the potential for contamination of foodstuffs and animal feed is widespread. The toxic effects of ochratoxin A have been studied extensively in a variety of experimental animals.Toxicological studies indicated that ochratoxin A is a teratogenic, mutagenic and carcinogenic mycotoxin with the strong toxic effects on liver and kidney.Ochratoxin A has the largest extension and the strongest toxicity, it seriously threats human and animal healthy and life safety. In some areas in the world, Ochratoxin A was suspected to be related to swine nephropathy and had been detected in blood samples from inhabitants in these areas as well. More and more attentions were paid to the relationship between the consumption of food contaminated with OTA and human health. In order to know the contamination situation of OTA in main foods of China and take effective measures to control OTA contamination to guarantee the food safety, we investigated OTA in main cereal foods and did a risk assessment of OTA in these kinds of foods. OTA contents in samples (486 kinds of cereal foods) from 18 big cities in China were determined.The study results were compared to the maximum permissible concentration. The distribution of OTA in main big cities and the cereal foods were analyzed. The data got from this research can be used to set the permissible concentration of OTA in foods and to establish the emergency management and warning system for OTA in foods.The main results of this paper are as following:(1) OTA contents in three rice samples,six vermicelli samples,one refined flour sample,two soybean samples surpassed the permissible concentration of China national standard.(2) The positive rates of OTA in cereal were 2.47%.(3) Changsha,Haerbin,Hefei,Nanning,Shenyang and Zhengzhou had OTA positive samples, OTA contents in these samples surpassed the maximum limits value of China,CAC,USA and EU(5μg/Kg).(4) OTA contents in 11.8%(6/51) vermicelli samples surpassed the maximum permissible concentration of China national standard. Vermicelli were contaminated most seriously in this study. (5) According to the average, the Margin of safety(MOS)of OTA were 94%.(6) More attention should be paid to the OTA contents in foods in China,enhancement of emergency management and warning system for OTA in foods...