Occurrence of aflatoxin M 1 in dairy products in Southern Italy

Abstract

A screening survey of the presence of aflatoxin M 1 (AFM 1) was carried out on 265 samples of cheese made from cow, buffalo, goat, sheep, sheep-goat milk collected in the Apulia region (Southern Italy). Selected samples included unripened, medium and long-term ripened cheeses. AFM 1 was found in 16.6% of the analyzed samples. The highest positive incidence was for medium and long-term ripened cheeses, especially those made from sheep-goat milk, while buffalo cheeses tested consistently negative. Our results show that the level of contamination by AFM 1 in dairy products from Apulia Region are lower than in other Italian and European regions. Moreover, it is important to underline that a common European norm concerning the AFM 1 threshold limits for dairy products is still lacking. © 2008.