A Survey of the Occurrence of Fusarium Mycotoxins in Biscuits in Japan by Using LC/MS

By adopting a rapid and sensitive method for simultaneous detection of nivalenol (NIV), deoxynivalenol (DON), fusarenon-X (FX), 3-acetyl deoxinivalenol (3ADON), HT-2 toxin (HT-2), T-2 toxin (T-2) and zearalenone (ZEN), the natural occurrence of these mycotoxins in biscuits made of wheat (201 samples) in Japan was surveyed. Samples were analyzed by LC/MS with atmospheric pressure photo ionization (APPI). Further confirmation was performed by liquid chromatography/time of flight mass spectrometry (LC/TOFMS). The average contamination of each Fusarium mycotoxin was 3.1, 23, 0.7, 0.1 and 4.2 ng/g for NIV, DON, HT-2, T-2 and ZEN, respectively. Multiple toxins were observed in 120 samples while FX and 3ADON were not detected. The incidence of these toxins was 41% for NI V, 98% for DON, 19% for HT-2, 11% for T-2 and 2% for ZEN. There were no significant differences in the concentration and incidence between conventional biscuits made of wheat and biscuits made of wheat for infants. This is the first report concerning the presence of NIV, DON, HT-2, T-2 and ZEN in biscuits in Japan.