Background & Objectives: The presence of fungal toxins in food has a negative
impact on human health. The aim of this survey was to assess the level of Ochratoxin
A in cookies and biscuits.
Materials and Methods: The data were collected using 44 samples of cookies
and biscuits randomly chosen from some food warehouses in Amol, Iran in 2013.
Levels of Ochratoxin A were measured by ELISA method in July and August.
Data were analyzed using t-test (p<0.05) through SPSS 18.
Results: The highest contamination rates in cookies and biscuits were found
to be 100% and 81.8% in August, respectively. This means that the toxin in
the contaminated samples exceeded the standard limits. Besides, there was no
significant relationship between the months of collecting samples and contamination
rate (p>0.05).
Conclusion: The results of this study demonstrated that Ochratoxin A rate in the
examined products was beyond the legal limit. Regarding the consumption of
cookies and biscuits among members of society, meeting the hygienic standards
in order to control and prevent contamination of stored wheat with fungal toxins
is of fundamental importance.
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