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. 2017 Feb:100:265-273.
doi: 10.1016/j.fct.2016.12.037. Epub 2016 Dec 30.

A risk assessment of dietary Ochratoxin a in the United States

Nicole J Mitchell  1 , Chen Chen  1 , Jeffrey D Palumbo  2 , Andreia Bianchini  3 , Jack Cappozzo  4 , Jayne Stratton  3 , Dojin Ryu  5 , Felicia Wu  6
Affiliations

A risk assessment of dietary Ochratoxin a in the United States

Nicole J Mitchell et al. Food Chem Toxicol. 2017 Feb.

Abstract

Ochratoxin A (OTA) is a mycotoxin (fungal toxin) found in multiple foodstuffs. Because OTA has been shown to cause kidney disease in multiple animal models, several governmental bodies around the world have set maximum allowable levels of OTA in different foods and beverages. In this study, we conducted the first exposure and risk assessment study of OTA for the United States' population. A variety of commodities from grocery stores across the US were sampled for OTA over a 2-year period. OTA exposure was calculated from the OTA concentrations in foodstuffs and consumption data for different age ranges. We calculated the margin of safety (MOS) for individual age groups across all commodities of interest. Most food and beverage samples were found to have non-detectable OTA; however, some samples of dried fruits, breakfast cereals, infant cereals, and cocoa had detectable OTA. The lifetime MOS in the US population within the upper 95% of consumers of all possible commodities was >1, indicating negligible risk. In the US, OTA exposure is highest in infants and young children who consume large amounts of oat-based cereals. Even without OTA standards in the US, exposures would not be associated with significant risk of adverse effects.

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Conflict of interest statement

Declaration of Interest The authors' affiliations are as shown on the cover page. The authors have sole responsibility for the writing and content of the paper.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Frequency distributions of OTA occurrence in food commodities which are main contributors to the total exposure of OTA.
Figure 2
Figure 2
OTA exposure proportions of individual food commodities for subpopulations of different age groups of US total population.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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