Survey on sterigmatocystin in food

Abstract

A total of 1 259 samples of cereal grains, cereal products, beer and nuts were analysed for the presence of the mycotoxin sterigmatocystin. Samples were mainly collected at processing plants, storage facilities, wholesale and retail between August 2013 and November 2014, in nine European countries (mostly Greece, Italy, the Netherlands and the United Kingdom (UK), additionally in Cyprus, Germany, Latvia, Lithuania, and Poland). The products originated from 27 European countries and 18 other countries (mostly rice and nuts). The samples comprised cereal grains (221 wheat, 35 rye, 33 maize, 59 barley, 51 oats, 2 spelt, 117 rice), grain milling products (125), pasta (115), bread/rolls (143), breakfast cereals/muesli (97), fine bakery ware (90), cereal-based infant food (54), beer (53), peanuts (28) and hazelnuts (36). All samples were analysed by methods based on liquid chromatography with tandem mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS). The limit of quantification, defined as the lowest validated level, was 0.5 µg/kg and the limit of detection (LOD) was in the range 0.05-0.15 µg/kg (0.005-0.01 µg/kg for beer). Overall, sterigmatocystin was identified in 10 % of the samples. More than 50 % of the contaminated samples contained levels between LOD and 0.5 µg/kg. In the other cases levels were all in the range 0.5-6 µg/kg with one exception (33 µg/kg in oats). Rice and oats were identified as the cereals most prone to sterigmatocystin contamination (virtually all unprocessed rice samples (all from Europe), 21 % of the processed rice samples, 22 % of the oats grains). In cereal products, levels were typically lower than in grains. The highest incidence was in breakfast cereals/muesli (19 %) while for the other cereal products the detection rate was 5-7 %. In the contaminated cereal products, rice and oats were often present as ingredients. For beer and nuts, none of the samples were found to be contaminated with sterigmatocystin. DISCLAIMERThe present document has been produced and adopted by the bodies identified above as author(s). In accordance with Article 36 of Regulation (EC) No 178/2002, this task has been carried out exclusively by the author(s) in the context of a grant agreement between the European Food Safety Authority and the author(s). The present document is published complying with the transparency principle to which the Authority is subject. It cannot be considered as an output adopted by the Authority. The European Food Safety Authority reserves its rights, view and position as regards the issues addressed and the conclusions reached in the present document, without prejudice to the rights of the authors. The present document has been produced and adopted by the bodies identified above as author(s). In accordance with Article 36 of Regulation (EC) No 178/2002, this task has been carried out exclusively by the author(s) in the context of a grant agreement between the European Food Safety Authority and the author(s). The present document is published complying with the transparency principle to which the A...

Sterigmatocystin Occurrence in Paddy and Processed Rice Produced in Italy in the Years 2014–2015 and Distribution in Milled Rice Fractions

“…In a recent European survey on STC occurrence in cereals, rice was clearly identified as the product with the highest incidence of contamination [26]; we collaborated in that study and found that all paddy rice samples grown in Italy during 2013 ( n = 13) were contaminated (similar results were obtained for paddy rice from other countries). In that limited survey, the average contamination and the median were 0.89 and 0.76 μg·kg −1 , respectively; the STC level was higher than 1.0 μg·kg −1 in 38.5% of the samples and the maximum value was 1.9 μg·kg −1 .…”

“…Successively, the results of a survey on STC in food highlighted that STC was rarely present in cereal grains and cereal products (limit of quantification of 0.5 μg·kg −1 ), except paddy rice and derived products [26]; in fact, all paddy rice samples ( n = 28), mainly originating from Italy and Greece, were contaminated with STC. Contamination of rice with STC has already been reported [27,28,29,30]; however, the number of analysed samples was low and high limits of quantification were often reported.…”

Harmonized Collaborative Validation of Aflatoxins and Sterigmatocystin in White Rice and Sorghum by Liquid Chromatography Coupled to Tandem Mass Spectrometry

“…In cereal grains, STC was detected in 2%–6% of the wheat, rye, maize, and barley samples, mostly at levels < 1.5 μg/kg. A higher incidence and higher levels of contamination (14 samples, 1.5–6 µg/kg; 1 sample, 33 µg/kg) were observed in rice (in virtually all unprocessed rice and 21% of processed rice from the EU) and oats (22%) [21]. Sorghum is also commonly detected with STC contamination.…”

Strategies for estimating human exposure to mycotoxins via food

“…At the moment of data collection, it may not be clear which foods contribute most to the exposure, samples may not be well characterised, analytical reference standards or reference materials are lacking, method of analysis may not be harmonised or validated, LOQs required to exclude potential health risks are unknown (Mol et al, 2015), and the relation between intake and excreted metabolites is unknown. Analysis of long-time stored duplicate or total diets may overcome these problems to some extent, assuming all relevant consumed foods are collected.…”

“…EFSA calculated a required LOQ of 1.5 µg/kg: based on consumption of the relevant food products, the level causing adverse effects in laboratory animals and the minimal required margin of exposure for genotoxic carcinogens. A dedicated survey was subsequently performed at an LOQ of 0.5 µg/kg and sterigmatocystin was detected in 10% of the 1,259 samples, in most cases below 1 µg/kg (Mol et al, 2015). Besides the issue of low LOQs, another issue with certain mycotoxins is the high heterogeneity of the contamination which may result in a high uncertainty of the analysis results (higher than the measurement uncertainty of the analysis as such), but this clearly depends on the type of food product.…”