Prevalence of mycotoxins in feed and feed ingredients between 2015 and 2017 in Taiwan

Contamination of feed by mycotoxins is a global epidemic that has a sizeable impact on animal health and causes economic losses. Mycotoxins, including aflatoxins (AFs), zearalenone (ZEN), fumonisins (FUMs), deoxynivalenol (DON), and ochratoxin A (OTA), lead to acute and chronic adverse effects in pigs. Animal feed and feed ingredients are commonly contaminated by one or more mycotoxins worldwide; however, the prevalence of mycotoxin contamination in feed and feed ingredients in Taiwan remains unclear. A total of 820 cornmeal and corn-based swine feed (pregnancy and nursery diets) samples provided by feed and animal producers were analyzed using the enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay method between January 2015 and December 2017 to determine the presence of mycotoxins. The results revealed that the most prevalent mycotoxin in Taiwan was DON, with 91.4% of positive samples between 2015 and 2017, followed by ZEN, AFs, and FUMs, with 70.2%, 58.0%, and 50.4% of positive samples, respectively. A similar prevalence of mycotoxins was observed in cornmeal and corn-based swine feed. Furthermore, 7.7% of the analyzed feed samples contained one mycotoxin, and 91.3% contained multiple mycotoxins. DON was the most prevalent mycotoxin in cornmeal and corn-based swine feed in Taiwan. Moreover, a high incidence of contamination by multiple mycotoxins was observed in swine feed. Awareness of mycotoxin presence in feed and development of mycotoxin detoxification strategies are unmet needs.