Mycotoxins: risk assessment and legislation

Mycotoxins are naturally occurring toxic secondary metabolites of fungi that may be present in food products. Several mycotoxins have been associated with and implicated in human and animal disease. Mycotoxins encompass a wide spectrum of different chemicals and they may affect many target organs and systems, notably the liver, kidney, the nervous system, the endocrine system, and the immune system. Much of our concern is about chronic effects at low levels of exposure, and several mycotoxins have been classified by the International Agency for Research in Cancer as human carcinogens or potential human carcinogens. Although these toxicants can never be completely removed from the food supply, it is possible through risk assessment to define levels that are unlikely to be of health concern. Ideally the risk assessment involves a complete toxicological assessment, an epidemiological assessment and an exposure assessment. However, in the risk management of mycotoxins it may be deemed necessary to take action before all this information is available. In this presentation recent risk management of the fumonisins will be compared with the situation for aflatoxins.