Surveillance programmes for managing risks from naturally occurring toxicants.

Abstract

Aflatoxins are potent carcinogenic, mutagenic and teratogenic metabolites produced by moulds that grow on food and feed. Their toxicity has caused severe health and economic problems worldwide. Other mycotoxins which have been associated with human health risks include ergot alkaloids, citreoviridin, trichothecenes, ochratoxins, citrinin, tremorgenic mycotoxins and the fumonisins. Many phycotoxins have also been associated with human illnesses; these phycotoxins include paralytic shellfish poisons, diarrhoeic shellfish poisons, ciguatera-related toxins, neurotoxic shellfish poisons, tetrodotoxin and, the more recently discovered, domoic acid which is associated with amnesic shellfish poisoning. Human exposure to these naturally occurring toxins can be from direct consumption of contaminated commodities or from foods derived from animals previously exposed to these toxins in their feed. Food safety monitoring programmes for selected toxins have been established for raw and finished products susceptible to contamination. Components of these control programme include the establishment of regulatory limits or guidelines, monitoring susceptible products for specific compounds, and the diversion of the contaminated products to lower-risk uses and/or decontamination procedures.