Food aflatoxin exposure assessment in Sichuan Province, China

Aflatoxins (AFs) are frequent contaminants in crops worldwide and can cause adverse health effects in exposed humans. Since foods AFs (AFB₁, AFB₂, AFG₁, AFG₂) contamination in Sichuan Province are unexplored, we conducted a study to assess AFs exposure in the population. In total, 318 samples, including grains, red chilli, red chilli powder, and vegetable protein beverages, were collected from 13 cities of Sichuan Province, China, in 2022. AFs were detected in all types of foods except for wheat flour, the highest incidence was found in red chilli powder (75.0%). The concentrations of AF_tot (the total aflatoxins) ranged between ND (not detected) and 54.20 μg kg^-1. It was observed that the AFs profile was dominated by AFB₁. The AFB₁ content ranged from ND to 52.60 μg kg^-1 across food types. According to EU maximum limits (ML) of AFs, 2.8% of samples exceeded the AF_tot limits. For AFB₁, 0.4% and 4.3% of samples exceeded the China and EU limits, respectively. In this study, packaging types and sampling sites were selected as parameters influence food aflatoxin contamination. Nevertheless, there was no significant difference between different samples. According to exposure assessment and risk characterization, AF_tot daily exposure was shown to be 0.263 and 283.936 ng kg^-1 bw for the lower and upper exposure. The MOE value derived from consumption grains and red chilli pepper products were generally bellow 10 000, and liver cancer cases based on these two foods consumption could range from < 0.001 to 0.16 cases per year/10 000 persons.