Assessment of aflatoxin B 1 in maize and awareness of aflatoxins in Son La, Vietnam

Abstract

Aflatoxin B 1 (AFB 1 ) is a fungal by-product which causes acute and chronic toxicity in humans and many other animals. This research was conducted to evaluate the prevalence of AFB 1 contamination in maize and residents’ awareness of aflatoxins in Son La province, Vietnam. Maize samples were randomly collected from Son La province using multi-stage sampling. We used cut-off levels of 5 and 20 μg/kg and calculated the mean, median and range for each district. In addition, a questionnaire collected information from households about their knowledge, attitude and practice related to moldy maize. Out of 378 maize samples from Son La, 204 (54.0%) and 141 (37.3%) were contaminated with AFB 1 at more than 5 µg/kg and 20 µg/kg, respectively. Mai Son district had the highest proportion of samples (54.0%) using a cut-off level > 20 µg/kg, and Yen Chau district the lowest (4%). People from the Thai ethnic group were 30.9 times more likely to consume meat from animals fed moldy maize than people from the Kinh ethnic group (p = 0.003). Maize in Son La is contaminated with AFB 1 at levels which imply better control of aflatoxins in maize for human consumptions and animal feed is needed.