Ochratoxin A in swine blood used for evaluation of cereal handling procedures

In a survey during the years 1985, 1986 and 1987 the quality of Swedish feeding grain was followed by the analysis of ochratoxin A in blood collected from swine at slaughter. The swine herds sampled were selected on feed handling procedures used. From information about the feed used, risk parameters for ochratoxin A contamination were identified. The results showed annual variation in the content of ochratoxin A in the grain and that ochratoxin A increased during storage of grain, particularly in the harvest of 1985. Drying of the grain with forced ambient air was found to be inferior to the use of heated forced air. It was also noticed that more than 9% of the grain was contaminated with ochratoxin A regardless of handling. The pronounced difference between the samples studied was seen mainly as a function of geographical origin, with the island of Gotland having a much higher frequency of positive samples than the rest of Sweden. No correlation between ochratoxin A in swine feed and post mortem signs of infectious diseases in the swine herds was found.