Mycotoxins in infant cereal foods from the Canadian retail market

Three hundred and sixty-three samples of cereal-based infant foods were collected from the Canadian retail markelplace over 3 years. The samples included oat-, barley-, soy-, and rice-based infant cereals, mixed-grain infant cereals, teething biscuits, creamed corn, and soy- based formulas. Samples were analysed for targeted mycotoxins (deoxynivalenol, nivalenol, HT-2 toxin, zearalenone, ochratoxin A, fumonisins B-1 and B-2, and five ergot alkaloids). Soy-based cereals (which usually contain corn) exhibited the highest incidences of deoxynivalenol (100%), zearalenone (46%) and fumonisins (75%). Overall, deoxynivalenol was the most frequently detected mycotoxin - it was detected in 63% of samples analysed. Survey results demonstrated the regular occurrence of multiple mycotoxins in cereal-based infant,foods.