Manaaki Tangata Taiao Hoki protecting people and their environment through science Specialist Science Solutions MYCOTOXIN RESEARCH AT ESR Peter Cressey Institute of Environmental Science and Research November 2010

© ESR 2008 Geography and Mycotoxins – New Zealand and Australia TROPICAL SUB-TROPICAL TEMPERATE

© ESR 2008 Imports of Some Potentially Mycotoxin-containing Foods (ex-FBS 2003)

© ESR 2008 Background - Mycotoxins Toxic secondary metabolites of fungi, particular species of Fusarium and Aspergillus Major mycotoxins of concern internationally include; aflatoxins, ochratoxins, trichothecenes (T-2, HT-2, nivalenol, deoxynivalenol), fumonisins, zearalenone, ergot alkaloids, patulin Most important host plant species are cereals and seeds/nuts (except for patulin – apples)

© ESR 2008 Mycotoxins reported in domestically- grown food New ZealandAustralia AflatoxinsX  Ochratoxins  Trichothecenes  Fumonisins??  Zearalenone  Ergot?? Patulin 

© ESR 2008 The Food Regulatory System in New Zealand and Australia JOINT FOOD STANDARDS

© ESR 2008 The Food Regulatory System in New Zealand and Australia IMPLEMENTATION AND ENFORCEMENT AUSTRALIAN STATES AND TERRITORIES

© ESR 2008 Previous Food Standards - Mycotoxins (Australian) Food Standards Code Aflatoxin – mg/kg in peanuts and peanut products, mg/kg in all other foods Ergot – Not detectable in 2.25 litre of grain Phomopsin – mg/kg in any food New Zealand Food Regulations Aflatoxin – mg/kg in peanuts (shelled) and peanut products, mg/kg in all other foods

© ESR 2008 Joint Food Standards - Mycotoxins Aflatoxins - Peanuts and peanut products0.015 mg/kg - Tree nuts and tree nut products0.015 mg/kg Phomopsins - Lupin seeds0.005 mg/kg Ergot - Cereal grains500 mg/kg Guiding Principle: “MPCs will be established for primary commodities which provide, or may potentially provide, a significant contribution to the total dietary contaminant intake”

© ESR 2008 Mycotoxin Standards - Rationale Aflatoxins – potent mutagens/carcinogens, peanuts/nuts major source of exposure – ALARA Phomopsins – (rodent) liver toxin/carcinogen, lupins only recognised source – ALARA Ergot – highly toxic at high exposure, but generally controlled by modern agriculture and processing. Concerns appear to relate to importation of rye from the Northern Hemisphere Phomopsins and ergot were regulated in the previous Australian standards, but not the previous New Zealand Regulations

© ESR 2008 Mycotoxins for which no Standard was set Ochratoxins – “insufficient data available to establish whether there is a risk to public health” Fusarium toxins – “further survey work is now being conducted……risk assessment on these toxins therefore will be finalised when this data become available” Patulin was not considered

© ESR 2008 Other Mycotoxin Activity – New Zealand Older surveys on aflatoxins (1977, 1991, 1999, 2000), ochratoxins (2000), trichothecenes ( ), zearalenone ( ), patulin (1981, 1998) Aflatoxin M1 is included in the annual dairy residue survey 2005/2006 – Risk profiling of mycotoxins in New Zealand food supply – the current state of knowledge Identified priority data gaps

© ESR 2008 Industry Focus Both countries moving to a system where the food producer/processor/importer/retailer is responsible for identifying and managing risks associated with food Food Control Programmes/Food Safety Programmes will be audited to determine compliance Some evidence for this happening for mycotoxins in some industries (ENZA – patulin, PCA – aflatoxins)

© ESR 2008 Mycotoxin Research at ESR Detection/Measurement Risk assessment/risk prioritisation (Influence of processing)

© ESR 2008 Measurement of Mycotoxins at ESR Focus on: Aflatoxins. Regulatory and research. Immunological methods → HPLC → LC- MS/MS/MS Ochratoxin A. Research. HPLC Patulin. Research. HPLC Deoxynivalenol. Research. HPLC Intention to move to multi-mycotoxin LC-MS/MS/MS methods

© ESR 2008 Mycotoxin Activity – New Zealand Older surveys on aflatoxins (1977, 1991, 1999, 2000), ochratoxins (2000), trichothecenes ( ), zearalenone ( ), patulin (1981, 1998) Aflatoxin M1 is included in the annual dairy residue survey 2005/2006 – Risk profiling of mycotoxins in New Zealand food supply – the current state of knowledge Identified priority data gaps

© ESR 2008 Mycotoxin Risk Ranking or ‘What can I do without data?’ The risk profiling exercise carried out in sought to prioritise mycotoxins for further action on the basis of risk However, in many cases little information was available to generate New Zealand-specific risk estimates So, how can be make quanitative decisions with quantitative data?

© ESR 2008 Risk Assessment Hazard Identification (toxicology, epidemiology) Hazard Characterisation (toxicology, epidemiology) Exposure Assessment Risk Characterisation

© ESR 2008 Hazard Identification (Strength of Evidence) Human Health endpoint ToxEpi AflatoxinsPrimary Liver Cancer HighMedium-High OchratoxinsNephrotoxicityMediumMedium-Low TrichothecenesGastroenteritis Haematotoxicity High FumonisinsGastroenteritis Cancer Neural tube defects Medium ZearalenoneHormonal effectsMediumLow Ergot alkaloidsErgotismHigh Patulin???Medium- Low Low

© ESR 2008 Hazard Characterisation Type of exposure limit Value (mcg/kg bw/day) Authority AflatoxinsCancer potency 0.01 (for excess risk) JECFA OchratoxinsPTDI PTWI TDI Canada JECFA Nordic Trichothecenes DON NIV T2/HT2 PMTDI/TDI t-TDI PMTDI/TDI JECFA/EU EU JECFA/EU FumonisinsPMTDI/TDI2JECFA/EU ZearalenonePMTDI/t-TDI0.5/0.2JECFA/EU Ergot Alkaloids--- PatulinPMTDI0.4JECFA

© ESR 2008 Foods Typically Contributing to Dietary Exposure AflatoxinsPeanuts, maize OchratoxinsBread, cereals, dried fruit, wine TrichothecenesMaize, wheat, beer FumonisinsMaize ZearalenoneMaize, wheat Ergot AlkaloidsRye, wheat, barley, triticale PatulinApple juice and apple products

© ESR 2008 Dietary Exposure Assessment Little information available on mycotoxin exposure in New Zealand Available estimates based on fragmentary data But, some good estimates available from comparable countries (i.e. temperate climate, nett grain importers) Can use these data to estimate limits on dietary exposure

© ESR 2008 Risk Characterization – Lower Limit

© ESR 2008 Risk Characterisation – Upper Limit

© ESR 2008 Risk Ranking (Qualitative) Risk GroupMycotoxins High(Aflatoxins), Ochratoxin A Medium(Fumonisins), Deoxynivalenol, nivalenol LowT2/HT2, Zearalenone, Ergot Alkaloids, Patulin

© ESR 2008 How do we make Risk Decisions in the Absence of Data? Safety Limit - PTWI Exposure What is the level of population exposure?

© ESR 2008 Exposure/Risk Assessment Refinement

© ESR 2008 Ochratoxin A (OTA) in New Zealand In 2005, few New Zealand specific data available Plentiful data from climatically similar areas (Europe) Also a range of safety limits defined for OTA Used data to define best and worst case estimates for OTA exposure in New Zealand

© ESR 2008 OTA – Screening Exposure Assessment

© ESR 2008 OTA Screening Exposure Assessment Worst case estimates indicate potential for New Zealanders to exceeding the safety limit (PTWI) for OTA OTA became a priority for further action in New Zealand Involved identification of priority foods and design of surveys to determine the OTA content of foods

© ESR 2008 OTA prevalence

© ESR 2008 New Zealand – Ochratoxin A Concentrations in Selected Foods

© ESR 2008 New Zealand – OTA Exposure Initial calculation of chronic exposure based on: - Concentration data from 2007 and 2009 surveys - Consumption data from simulated diets (bread, cereals and coffee), nutrition surveys (dried fruit) and import data (spices) Estimated exposure for adult male – 2.7 ng/kg bw/day (19 ng/kg bw/week) Equates to 17% of PTWI (JECFA – 112 ng/kg bw/week) Doesn’t consider extreme consumers or children

© ESR 2008 Aflatoxins – What Foods are Important in New Zealand? Foods of concern are those that are commonly eaten and/or commonly contaminated with aflatoxins and/or may contain very high concentrations of aflatoxins Corn/maize (2008) Peanuts and peanut products (2010) Tree nuts and tree nut products (2010) Dried fruit (2009) Spices (2009)

© ESR 2008 Aflatoxin (total) prevalence

© ESR 2008 New Zealand – Aflatoxin Concentrations in Selected Foods

© ESR 2008 What Does this Mean with Regards to Risk Aflatoxins are present in a number of foods consumed by New Zealanders Differing prevalence and concentrations Some foods more commonly eaten than others Some foods eaten in larger portions than others Dietary exposure assessment allows integration of all these factors – are currently carrying out dietary exposure assessment for aflatoxins

© ESR 2008 Influence of Food Processing The normal processing of crops to produce foods eaten by humans can have a significant impact on the mycotoxin content e.g. Roasting of peanuts can reduce the aflatoxin content by 50-80% Wet milling of maize reduces aflatoxin levels to less than 1% of the levels in the raw grain Cleaning of wheat removes 44% of OTA contamination Breadmaking reduces DON levels by up to 60%

© ESR 2008 Influence of Food Processes – OTA in breadbaking

© ESR 2008