ELISA Survey of Retail Grain-Based Food Products for Zearalenone and Aflatoxin B1

Abstract

Seventy-nine grain-based food products were purchased from mid-Michigan retail grocery outlets in 1985 and analyzed for the mycotoxins zearalenone and aflatoxin B1 by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. Twenty-two percent of these samples contained detectable zearalenone (limit ⩾2.5 μg/kg). Zearalenone was found in breakfast cereal, snack foods, popcorn, corn meal, and cake-muffin mixes representing 10, 11, 57, 78, and 20% of these samples, respectively. The average level of this toxin among the positive samples was 20 μg/kg with maximum levels of 120 and 130 μg/kg being found in samples of corn meal and popcorn, respectively. Zearalenone was not found in any of the wheat flour or baby foods samples. Detectable aflatoxin B1 (limit ⩾5.0 μg/kg) was not found in any of the 79 samples tested.