Analysis of Reported Aflatoxin Levels in EU's Rapid Alert System for Food and Feed (RASFF) Notifications

Aflatoxins are one of the major mycotoxins contaminating food and feed. This study analyses 14 years of notifications on aflatoxins (2010-2023) from the European Union's Rapid Alert System for Food and Feed (RASFF) to assess contamination risk based on notification counts and the reported aflatoxin levels. The distribution of food and feed in notifications indicates that peanuts (34.4%), pistachios (17.3%) and figs (12.5%) have the highest contamination risk. Among major food-origin combinations, significant differences in the distributions of aflatoxin levels suggest the influence of country-specific factors on contamination patterns. The data also revealed a distinct seasonal peak in notifications on figs from Türkiye in the last quarter of the year, as well as rising trends in median aflatoxin levels over 14 years for figs from Türkiye and pistachios from Iran, with each having a fivefold increase in median levels from 2010 to 2023.