Mycotoxins in cereal-based infant foods marketed in China: Occurrence and risk assessment

Infants are considered as the most vulnerable subgroup susceptible to mycotoxins in food. A total of 820 cereal-based infant foods marketed in China were screened for 20 mycotoxins using an ultra-high performance liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry (UPLC-MS/MS) method. Low levels of 12 mycotoxins were detected including deoxynivalenol (DON), tenuazonic acid (TeA), enniatin A (ENA), zearalenone (ZEN), enniatin B1 (ENB1), alternariol (AOH), enniatin B (ENB), alternariol nonomethyl ether (AME), enniatin A1 (ENA1), fumonisin B1 (FB1), ochratoxin A (OTA), and fumonisin B2 (FB2) with the incidence rate of 55.7, 45.1, 13.9, 8.2, 6.6, 5.6, 4.8, 4.3, 3.9, 3.7, 1.1, and 0.7% of samples, respectively. One or more mycotoxins were found in 73.7% of all samples, 71.2% of processed infant foods (infant cereal, infant cracker, and infant noodle), and 82.3% in common cereals (wheat flour, rice, and millet) for infant consumption. Wheat-based infant foods were contaminated with more varieties of mycotoxins than those rice-based infant foods. A deterministic approach was used to evaluate dietary risk assessment through cereal-based food consumption for the average and heavy infant consumers in China. Overall, dietary exposure of DON, ZEN, FB1, FB2, OTA, and TeA by cereal-based infant food intakes was considered to be acceptable (Hazard quotient <1). However, the estimated dietary exposure of AME and AOH exceeded the threshold of toxicological concern of 0.0025 μg/kg b.w./day, which confirmed the need for further study to assess the potential health risks for infants.