Aflatoxin occurrence in foodstuff supplied to dairy cattle and aflatoxin M1 in raw milk in the North of Parana state

Moulds occur in a great variety of foods, including the concentrated and roughage destined for animal feeding, and can produce mycotoxins under certain conditions. The ingestion of mycotoxin AFB(1) by dairy cattle leads to the biotransformation of that substance, which is eliminated via milk as AFM(1), and also causes damage to human health. The present study aimed to analyze the presence of aflatoxins in foodstuff destined for dairy cattle and in the milk produced by these animals. The contamination of the foodstuff by aflatoxins happened mainly in the feeds and the silages did not present contamination by aflatoxins. Out of the 42 samples of milk analyzed, 10 (24%) were contaminated by AFM(1), and 3 (7%) were above the 0.5 mu g/l limit. (c) 2005 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.