The co-contamination of feedstuffs with multiple mycotoxins is the rule and not the exception, according to the lead author on a new paper, published in Toxins.
Nutriad, in its analysis of wheat samples from the UK and Ireland this year, found notable deoxynivalenol (DON) contamination, at levels ten times higher than the maximum concentrations found for that mycotoxin in the 2015 survey.
EFSA has found the current Tolerable Daily Intake (TDI) of the mycotoxin, zearalenone, in food and feed should be maintained at the previous level of 0.25 µg/kg BW per day.
The 2015 Nutriad wheat mycotoxin survey concludes that this year’s harvest of wheat in the UK and Ireland is of very good quality in terms of mycotoxin contamination.
US scientists are working to develop faster or more complete methods to test for mycotoxins in feed crops as a way to increase feed safety and animal performance.