A recent study has analyzed data from the European Rapid Alert System for Food and Feed (RASFF) portal to examine mycotoxins in nuts. Scientists analyzed reports from RASFF on nuts and nut products contaminated with mycotoxins, from 2011 to 2021. 4,752 mycotoxin reports were published for food products worldwide, and 3,000 were in “nuts, nut products and seeds.” They included 1,545 for groundnuts, 795 for pistachios, 311 for hazelnuts and 149 for almonds.
A total of 95 percent, or 2,669 reports, were from aflatoxins. More than half of these were reported for groundnuts, and 441 notices were for groundnuts from China. Border rejection was reported for 91 percent of the nuts and nut products exported to EU countries.
Groundnuts are susceptible to contamination because they grow in soil where the aflatoxin-producing fungus thrives. The study, published in Food Research International, also covered Aflatoxin B1 and ochratoxin A, with 105 and 26 notifications, respectively.
The frequency of RASFF notifications for nuts and nut products increased from 233 in 2012 to 443 in 2018 and decreased to 179 in 2021. Border rejections followed the same trend, likely due to stricter regulations issued by the EU Commission in 2019, said researchers.
Source: foodsafetynews.com