Mycotoxins in Ethiopia: Current status, implications to food safety and mitigation strategies

Mycotoxins are one of the most significant contributors to food losses in developing countries including Ethiopia, and became a recurring food safety challenge. Many studies have reported the occurrence of mycotoxins in food and food commodities in Ethiopia. Aflatoxins, ochratoxins, fumonisins, and deoxynivalenol are among the most hazardous mycotoxins produced by the different fungal species. Groundnut, cereals (maize, sorghum, Leff, wheat, barley, finger mullet), milk, coffee and beer are the food commodities contaminated by mycotoxins and reported in Ethiopia. Mycotoxins negatively affect household food safety, livelihood, productivity, and income and leads to significant costs and economic losses for the given country. Lack of awareness on the occurrence and risks of mycotoxins, poor agricultural and postharvest practices, undiversified diets, poor legislation and regulation expose populations to dietary mycotoxin. Therefore, this review documents the prevalence of mycotoxins in food and food commodities and discuss the implications in food safety and health, mitigation strategies, legislation and regulations in Ethiopia.