Risk analysis and exposure assessment of Ochratoxin A in Serbia

Aim: The aim of this study was to check the current status of OTA contamination of the Serbian pork and chicken meat in naturally exposed animals which are part of chain production. The knowledge of these factors, their importance and significance, can be used as a tool from the food safety point of view to predict if OTA content in pork and chicken tissues poses a risk to human health and deleterious effects on animals' health and well-being. Materials and Methods: A total of 540 samples of pigs blood, kidney, liver and chicken gizzard were randomly selected from slaughtered pigs (n=90) and chicken (n=90) and analyzed for the presence of ochratoxin A (OTA) by High-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC-FL). Results: In porcine tissue samples, of the 90 liver samples, 26.6% contained OTA in the range of 0.22-14.5 ng/g. The incidence of OTA in serum and kidneys were very similar (31% and 33.3%, respectively), with a maximum concentration of 220.8 ng/mL, and 52.5 ng/g, respectively. Majority of chickens' tissues samples, were not found to contain measurable amounts of OTA. Moreover, the OTA levels found in analysed tissues were low in general. Conclusion: The results of this preliminary research indicate that the content of OTA in the examined tissues are far below the values that represent hazard to the health of consumers. However, the results of this study show that in Serbia, consumers are nevertheless frequently exposed to ochratoxins.