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ARS Home » Pacific West Area » Albany, California » Western Regional Research Center » Healthy Processed Foods Research » Research » Publications at this Location » Publication #310923
Title: Aflatoxin cross-contamination during mixing of shelled almonds

Author
item Toyofuku, Natsuko
item Mahoney, Noreen
item Haff, Ronald - Ron

Submitted to: Journal of Food Processing and Preservation
Publication Type: Peer Reviewed Journal
Publication Acceptance Date: 10/27/2019
Publication Date: 12/2/2019
Citation: Toyofuku, N., Mahoney, N.E., Haff, R.P. 2019. Aflatoxin cross-contamination during mixing of shelled almonds. Journal of Food Processing and Preservation. 44(2). https://doi.org/10.1111/jfpp.14330.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1111/jfpp.14330

Interpretive Summary: How aflatoxin is distributed in tree nuts is a significant economic issue as lots can be rejected based on toxin content of a finite number of samples. It is has been previously reported that most of the aflatoxin present is initially concentrated in a few highly contaminated nuts. It has been assumed that aflatoxin transfers to surrounding nuts either by direct contact or by contamination of processing equipment, however this has not been demonstrated. For this study, aflatoxin transfer between almonds and to processing equipment during processing was measured. 10kg of almonds were separated into two groups and marked for later identification. A number of almonds in one group were inoculated with Aflatoxin B1. After mixing, nuts were separated to their original groups and aflatoxin content of each group measured. Swabs were used to measure aflatoxin on the surfaces of mixing equipment. A 16.3% transfer of aflatoxin between groups was observed. Approximately 0.1% of the aflatoxin was deposited on mixing equipment.

Technical Abstract: Aflatoxin distribution in tree nuts is a significant economic issue as lots can be rejected based on toxin content of a finite number of samples. It is known that most aflatoxin is initially concentrated in a few highly contaminated nuts. While it is assumed that aflatoxin transfers to surrounding nuts either by direct contact or by contamination of processing equipment, this has not been demonstrated. Here, aflatoxin transfer between almonds and to processing equipment during processing was measured. 10kg of almonds were separated into two groups and marked for later identification. A number of almonds in one group were inoculated with Aflatoxin B1. After mixing, nuts were separated to their original groups and aflatoxin content of each group measured. Swabs were used to measure aflatoxin on the surfaces of mixing equipment. A 16.3% transfer of aflatoxin between groups was observed. Approximately 0.1% of the aflatoxin was deposited on mixing equipment.