Concentrations and exposure estimates of deoxynivalenol in wheat products from Argentina

Abstract

The aim of this work was to determine deoxynivalenol (DON) contamination in wheat-based food products in Argentina and to estimate DON exposure. The numbers of samples were determined according to a developed sampling plan. A total of 156 samples of different wheat products were randomly collected from food markets in Luján, Argentina, and analyzed for DON by gas chromatography. DON contamination ranged 7–271 ng g⁻¹ for French bread, 5–149 ng g⁻¹ for Vienna bread, 11–85 ng g⁻¹ for crackers, 8–85 ng g⁻¹ for pizza, and was 79 ng g⁻¹ for noodles. The maximum contribution to DON intake was 7% of the PMTDI for French bread; the minimum was less than 1% for noodles. Assuming all groups had eaten all sampled foods and summing all groups’ intake contribution, the highest estimate DON exposure would only be <14% (for the 18–24-year old men group) of the DON daily dietary intake.

Keywords:

• bakery products
• bread
• mycotoxins
• trichothecenes

Acknowledgements

The authors gratefully acknowledge the technical assistance of Gabriela Cano, Daniela Taglieri and Emilia Ciancio Bovier and financial support of FAO through the Charter of Acuerdo NU 7 / 1, PR 35 074, 2006. They also thank the National University of Luján and the City of Luján for their support in sampling.