Occurrence of Four Fusarium Mycotoxins, Deoxynivalenol, Zearalenone, T-2 Toxin, and HT-2 Toxin, in Wheat, Barley, and Japanese Retail Food

Abstract

A survey of the contamination of wheat, barley, and Japanese retail food by four Fusarium mycotoxins, deoxynivalenol (DON), zearalenone (ZEN), T-2 toxin (T-2), and HT-2 toxin (HT-2), was performed between 2010 and 2012. A method for the simultaneous determination of the four mycotoxins by liquid chromatography–tandem mass spectrometry was validated by a small-scale interlaboratory study using two spiked wheat samples (DON was spiked at 20 and 100 μg/kg and ZEN, T-2, and HT-2 at 6 and 20 μg/kg in the respective samples). The recovery of the four mycotoxins ranged from 77.3 to 107.2%. A total of 557 samples of 10 different commodities were analyzed over 3 years by this validated method. Both T-2 and HT-2 were detected in wheat, wheat flour, barley, Job's tears products, beer, corn grits, azuki beans, soybeans, and rice with mixed grains. Only T-2 toxin was detected in sesame seeds. The highest concentrations of T-2 toxin (48.4 μg/kg) and HT-2 toxin (85.0 μg/kg) were present in azuki beans and wheat, respectively. DON was frequently detected in wheat, wheat flour, beer, and corn grits. The contamination level of wheat was below the provisional standard in Japan (1,100 μg/kg). The maximum contamination level of DON was present in a sample of a Job's tears product (1,093 μg/kg). ZEN was frequently detected in Job's tears products, corn grits, azuki beans, rice with mixed grains, and sesame seeds. A sample of a Job's tears product presented the highest ZEN contamination (153 μg/kg). These results indicate that continuous monitoring by multiple laboratories is effective and necessary due to the percentage of positive samples detected.