“…There are few available studies and no routine surveys
for the presence of CPA in grains or other commodities, in part because of the lack
of regulatory requirements for testing, the relative difficulty of the analytical
methods used in its detection (Moldes-Anaya et al,
2009; Diaz et al, 2010), and
probably also in part because many researchers have concluded, despite the dearth of
data, that CPA is a relatively “benign” toxin, that it is not likely
to be present in sufficient concentrations in food or feed to pose a significant
problem or that efforts to reduce aflatoxin contamination will indirectly result in
reductions in CPA contamination (Byrem et al,
1999; Burdock and Flamm, 2000;
Chang et al, 2009a). Other researchers
have expressed concern that the potential for harm to humans or animals from
exposure to CPA has not been adequately evaluated or addressed (Stoltz et al, 1988; Dorner et al, 1994; Kubena et
al., 1994; Balachandran and Parthasarathy,
1996b; Prasongsidh et al, 1997;
Kumar and Balachandran, 2009) and several
studies have demonstrated the presence of CPA in food and feed items sampled from
various locations around the world, sometimes at levels in the range of 2.8 to 12
μg/g (Stolz et al, 1988; Widiastuti et al,
1988; Urano et al, 1992; Balachandran and Parthasarathy, 1996b). This
risk becomes more serious when CPA-producing “atoxigenic” strains are
intentionally applied to a major food and feed crop such as maize, under conditions
that favor colonization of the plant by the introduced strain.…”