Practical approaches to control mycotoxins

Control strategies to minimize mycotoxin levels in food comprise several broad categories, including good agricultural practice, good manufacturing practice, and hazard analysis and critical control point principles. In general, intervention strategies include pre-harvest, post-harvest, and dietary approaches, depending on the specific mycotoxins and the food commodity likely to be contaminated. This chapter describes practical interventions, which are arranged by the major groups of mycotoxins and are described according to their stage of development, efficacy, geographical regions in which they have been tested or applied, simplicity or complexity, and breadth of usefulness. Typical pre-harvest interventions include the breeding of resistant plant cultivars, good agricultural practice, and biocontrol using non-toxigenic strains. Post-harvest interventions include the removal of infected and/or insect-damaged food components by sorting, maintaining correct drying and storage conditions, and chemical deactivation such as nixtamalization. Dietary interventions include reducing mycotoxin bioavailability or modulating metabolism in ways that reduce the harmful effects of reactive metabolites. Cost-effective and simple intervention methods, predominantly at the population level, should be emphasized in developing countries, where resources are limited and sophisticated technologies are lacking.