EU – African Collaboration on Food Systems for Nutrition:

24th January 2017Food Safety – Mycotoxins, including aflatoxin – challenges for research and innovation - Approaches to Innovation

ByAndrew Emmott

PAEPARD, Aflatoxin Expert Group.

“Grains have always been the major source of mycotoxin in the diet of man and his domesticated animals.”

These include: Ergots, Penecilliums & Fusariums Source: A concise History of Mycotoxin Research

Food Safety – Mycotoxins, including aflatoxin

New York Times 25/04/1965

• 1950s - Aflatoxin link - outbreaks of poisoning in swine, cattle and poultry.

• Attention focused in 1960 on the potential health hazard to man.

• Turkey X disease – 100,000 poults died from moldy peanut meal.

• Studies reveal extensive hemorrhaging and liver cancer in rats and trout

• Potential link to high levels of liver cancer in Asia and Africa

Collapse of African groundnut exports to international markets late 1960’s.

3

40% in the 1970’s

90% in the 1960’s

<5% by 2005

Food Safety – Mycotoxins, including aflatoxin

•1960-65 UK & Dutch authorities share aflatoxin research findings;

•1961 WHO/FAO/UNICEF Protein Advisory Group respond to the aflatoxin problem;

•1964 Dutch authorities explore <5ppb limit for human consumption;

•African exports collapsed but production & regional trade is now increasing;

•US, China, & Argentina now dominate exports with co-ordinated supply chains developed for aflatoxin regulated markets.

Food Safety – Mycotoxins, including aflatoxin – challenges for research and innovation

1976 African Groundnut Council• Strengthen extension

services• Segregate & decontaminate• Improve storage facilities• Build laboratory capacity /

training• Breed mycotoxin resistant

crops

1977 Joint FAO/WHO/UNEP meeting on mycotoxins • Provide labs with trained staff• Develop rapid analysis• Train domestic science & public health officers in

knowledge transfer re: mycotoxins.• Improve insect control• Develop practical storage incl. units suitable at

the village level• Breed mycotoxin resistant crops

1999 Joint FAO/WHO/UNEP meeting on mycotoxins • Sensitize all in production chain, esp. farmers, how to reduce / avoid mycotoxin

contamination.• Support collaborative research partnerships in developing and developed countries• Assess extent of mycotoxin contamination.• Develop simple, robust, low cost analytical methods.• Breed crop varieties resistant to fungal infection, insect damage & toxin formation.• Potential to increase fungal contamination when new crops or genotypes introduced

into new environments.• Set up strong mycotoxin management programs with training in GAP and GMP.

Food Safety – Mycotoxins, including aflatoxin – challenges for research and innovation

Strategies to reduce human exposure to aflatoxins and fumonisins (WHO IARC Report No 9, 2015)

15 interventions categorized as having: (1) Sufficient evidence for implementation; (2) Needs more field evaluation; (3) Needs formative research; and, (4) No evidence or ineffective.

Example of a category (1) post harvest intervention:• Sorting:

• Ergot sclerotia – removed by specific gravity seed cleaning equipment• Aflatoxin – “early 1960’s sorting emerged as a regular and effective practice

to improve safety for groundnuts”• Research needs:

• “Adapt optical sorting for large & small African groundnut value chains”• “Targeted training in manual sorting for rural women would appear to be a

good investment”• “Food security is the major barrier to implementation of sorting” • “Safe alternative uses for rejected lots need further research”

•Groundnut flour had most contaminated samples;

• 73% > EU 4ppb level. • 25% above 100ppb • highest = 3871 ppb•70% of families add

groundnut flour to meals ca. twice/ week.

Test

s on

260m

t of

gro

undn

uts

<2% sorted out

60% used in food or feed

Sources: ICRISAT (2011) & Twin GPAF (2013)

On farm hand sorting: Not enough contaminated crop is removed from the food chain!

Food Safety – Mycotoxins, including aflatoxin – challenges for research and innovation

• Majority of market led work re: aflatoxin and groundnuts focuses on building export value chains;

• Export driven groundnut market system and value chains fail to serve the needs of smallholder producers and consumers;

• Need for a food safety focus in local food systems and farm level infrastructure as well as export value chains.

Key Challenge: Importance of food safety in all food systems

There is a need for a cross sector approach to the issue of aflatoxin

Food Safety – Mycotoxins, including aflatoxin – challenges for research and innovation

Food Safety – Mycotoxins, including aflatoxin – Approaches to innovation

“Evidence shows that developing a functioning food safety system begins in the corporate sector, both for domestic consumption and for export crops.” WHO IARC Report No 9, 2015

Support to entrepreneurs and innovators is needed. BUT: “70 to 80% of new businesses fail and only half survive for 5 years or more.”[PAEPARD] Training course on Promoting Entrepreneurship and Agribusiness Development

Innovations in formal value chains: (Protects consumers in export, local retail & regional, inter/intra regional and international markets)• Meet growing needs to urban consumers;• Local produced safe RUTFs for severely malnourished children; Informal value chains: (Improve quality so that all consumers benefit)• Increase awareness or food safety & control of aflatoxin;• Improve storage close to farmers to reduce waste & reduce contamination;Cross cutting: • Reduce cost and reliability of testing;• Identify incentives to reduce aflatoxin & remove contamination from food chain; • Remove or add value to contaminated crop informal & informal chains;• Develop local use of ICT / Big Data eg: Mycotoxin Early Warning System

Thank you