Roquefortine C in blue-veined and soft-ripened Cheeses in the USA

ABSTRACT

Certain fungi can produce secondary metabolites that are toxic, mycotoxins. Two groups of cheeses where fungi are used for ripening are the blue-veined cheeses (Penicillium roqueforti) and the “soft-ripened” cheeses (P. camemberti). An enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay was used to screen for the mycotoxin roquefortine C (ROQC) in 202 samples of cheeses sold in the United States. Of these 152 were blue-veined cheeses, 46 were soft-ripened cheeses and 4 were other varieties of mould-ripened cheeses. ROQC was not detected in any of the soft-ripened cheeses, at a limit of detection of 1.8 µg/kg. ROQC was found in 151 of 152 blue-veined cheeses. The maximum level found was 6,630 µg/kg (median 903 µg/kg, average of positives 1430 µg/kg, limit of quantitation 6.9 µg/kg). These levels are consistent with the levels found previously in blue-veined cheeses in the United Kingdom and Europe, which have generally been considered non-hazardous for human consumption.

KEYWORDS:

• Blue cheese
• brie
• camembert
• roquefortine C
• mycotoxin
• enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay
• ELISA
• heterogeneity

Acknowledgments

The author thanks Ms. Kristal Sieve of USDA-ARS-NCAUR for assistance in obtaining and homogenizing the cheese samples prior to testing.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

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Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by the U.S. Department of Agriculture, Agricultural Research Service, Project [5010-42000-052-00D].