EC Nutrition

In a position paper, the World Health Organization warned of continued contamination of food and animal feed by mycotoxins [1]. As you will recall, mycotoxins are naturally occurring defensive secretions of fungi and these fungi tend to grow on grains, spices, dried fruit and nuts. Furthermore, the International Agency for Research on Cancer, a branch of the World Health Organization, has warned that there are proven links between ingestion of mycotoxins and cancer proliferation [2].

1. International Agency for Research on Cancer. “Mycotoxin exposure and human cancer risk: A systematic review of epidemiological studies”. World Health Organization (2020).
2. Wild CP., et al. “Mycotoxin control in low- and middle-income countries”. IARC Working Group Report No. 9, International Agency for Research on Cancer (2015).
3. World Health Organization. “Mycotoxins: Key Facts” (2023).
4. Wu Felicia., et al. “Public health impacts of foodborne mycotoxins”. Annual Review of Food Science and Technology 5 (2014): 351-372.
5. Zhang Kai. “Determination of mycotoxins in corn, peanut butter, and wheat flour using stable isotope dilution assay (SIDA) and liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS)”. U.S. Food and Drug Administration (2024).