Determination of Aflatoxins in Edible Oils from China and Ethiopia Using Immunoaffinity Column and HPLC-MS/MS

Background: Aflatoxin (AF) ingestion through contaminated foodstuffs causes at least 250000 deaths every year from hepatocellular carcinoma in China and sub-Saharan Africa. Objective: The main objective of the study was to determine the aflatoxin levels of oils in South Gondar, Ethiopia, and oils purchased from retail markets in Guangzhou, China. Methods: We used a rapid, sensitive, and selective HPLC-tandem mass spectrometry (MS/MS) method for the determination of aflatoxins in edible oils from China and Ethiopia using immunoaffinity column cleaning. Results: The level of contamination for Ethiopian oils ranged between 0.07 and 145.59 μg/kg for total aflatoxins. Of the 27 edible oil samples from Guangzhou, China, the total concentration of aflatoxins (AFB1 + AFB2 + AFG1 + AFG2) ranged between 0.03 and 2.23 μg/kg. Conclusions: The study concluded that the peanut oils from Ethiopia were contaminated with aflatoxins higher than the allowable limit set by many countries while the oils from China were safe for human consumption. Highlights: We first describe an HPLC-MS/MS method for the determination of aflatoxins in 48 edible oil samples from China and Ethiopia using immunoaffinity column cleaning. This is the first preliminary study done on Ethiopian edible oils, giving policy-makers and future researchers baseline data. It is also used to assess the aflatoxin levels of the Chinese edible oils from Guangzhou. Therefore, conducting a comparative study points out the severity of the problem and helps to formulate a new national standard for policy-makers, making this study imperative.