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.
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.