Aflatoxins in foodstuffs: Occurrence and risk assessment in Turkey

This study aims to determine dietary exposure to aflatoxin B-1 (AFB(1)) and the sum of aflatoxins (AFT) for the Turkish population and assess the risks to human health related to aflatoxins. A total of 1473 results on five main food categories commercialised in Turkey in 2002-2019 were used in the risk assessment. In the adult population, the mean middle bound (MB) exposure levels were 0.433 ng kg(-1) b.w. per day for AFB(1) and 0.511 ng kg(-1) b.w. per day for AFT. The 95th percentile dietary exposure of AFB(1) and AFT was estimated at 1.19 and 1.29 ng kg(-1) b.w. per day, respectively. Pistachios (44.4 %) made the highest contribution to mean AFB(1) exposure in Turkish adults, followed by maize/maize flour (16.2 %), groundnuts (13.8 %), chilli (10.1 %), walnuts (4.9 %), hazelnuts (4.0 %), chocolate (3.9 %) and others (2.7 %). The margin of exposure (MOE) estimates for mean and 95th percentile exposures to AFB(1) are considerably lower than 10 000, which raises a potential health concern for Turkish adults.

Automated summary

This study aimed to determine dietary exposure to aflatoxin B-1 (AFB(1)) and the sum of aflatoxins (AFT) for the Turkish population. The results showed potential health concerns for Turkish adults due to considerably low Margin of Exposure (MOE) estimates for mean and 95th percentile exposures to AFB(1).