Occurrence of aflatoxins in peanuts, milk, and animal feed in Trinidad

The prevalence of allatoxin B-1 (AFB(1)) in 186 peanut products (140 peanuts, 32 peanut butter, and 14 nut cakes) from supermarkets, road vendors, and sale outlets, and 40 feed samples from dairy farmers was determined using the radioimmunoassay method (Charm II) test for aflatoxins. The frequency of aflatoxin M1 (AFM(1)) was also determined in 175 raw milk samples from milk collection centers and 37 pasteurized milk samples obtained from supermarkets and sale outlets. Overall, from a total of 438 samples tested, 18 (4.1%) were positive for aflatoxin comprising 5 (2.2%) of 226 peanut products and feeds positive for AFB(1), and 13 (6.1%) of 212 milk samples positive for AFM(1). All 186 peanuts and peanut products were negative (0.0%) for AFB(1) while 5 (7.4%) of 40 dairy feed samples were positive. Of the 175 raw milk samples tested, 13 (7.4%) were contaminated with AFM(1) while all pasteurized milk samples were negative. The detection of AFB(1) in feed and AFM(1) in milk is of public health importance considering the practice of raw milk consumption by the farmers and their families in the country.