Biomin survey – mycotoxins remain ubiquitous problem

In the period between April and June 2011, Biomin on a global scale analysed a total of 804 samples and 2,867 analyses were carried out for the most important mycotoxins in terms of agriculture and animal production – aflatoxins (Afla), zearalenone (ZON), deoxynivalenol (DON), fumonisins (FUM) and ochratoxin A (OTA).

 

Samples tested were diverse, ranging from cereals such as corn, wheat, barley and rice to processing by-products, such as soybean meal, corn gluten meal, DDGS and other fodders such as straw, silage and finished feed.

 

The table below gives an overview on the distribution of mycotoxins amongst different world regions.

Area	Mycotoxin presence (%)
	Afla	ZON	DON	FUM	OTA
North America	38	17	38	67	18
Central America	100	0	100	100	0
South America	17	35	12	92	13
Northern Europe	100	71	86	0	1
Central Europe	0	65	82	70	42
Southern Europe	54	15	12	62	62
Middle East	29	0	0	–	71
Africa	0	0	100	100	0
North Asia	22	62	80	49	30
South-East Asia	8	38	39	64	32
South Asia	86	3	24	55	52
Oceania	9	29	41	25	8
Average positives	31	48	62	63	32

 

It is obvious that mycotoxins are an ubiquitous problem as 89% of the analysed samples show the presence of, at least, one mycotoxin.

 

 

The presence of more than one mycotoxin in 53% of the samples raises the attention to the problem of synergistic effects caused by multiple mycotoxins in animal feeds.

 

This is the second of 4 reports to be released this year. More detailed figures can be found on the Biomin website as well as past survey results.