A study on the occurrence of aflatoxin M1 in raw milk produced in Sarab city of Iran

The presence of aflatoxin M1 (AFM1) in 111 samples of raw milk obtained from dairy plants of Sarab city of Iran were analysed. In 85 of the 111 samples (76.6%) the presence of aflatoxin M1 was detected in cone. ranging between 0.015 and 0.28 mug/l. AFM1 level in (40%) of positive samples were higher than the maximum tolerance limit (0.05 mug/l) accepted by some European countries. The lowest mean of AFM1 concentration was found as 0.024 mug/l on August, and the highest AFM1 value as 0.118 mug/l on December. Incidence level of AFM1 on January, February, April, and December, was higher than the other months. Statistical evaluations showed that mean contamination level of AFM1 in autumn and winter samples were significantly higher (P < 0.01) than those of spring and Summer. In addition the results showed that there were no statistical differences between AFM1 contents of spring and summer samples. (C) 2004 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.