Survey of the occurrence of aflatoxin M1 in dairy products marketed in Italy

During 1995, 159 samples of mill;, 97 samples of dry mill: for infant formula, and 114 samples of yogurt were randomly collected in supermarkets and drug stores in four large Italian cities and checked for aflatoxin M-1 (AFM(1)) by immunoaffinity column extraction and HPLC. AFM(1) was detected in 136 (86%) of the milk samples tin amounts ranging from (1 ng/liter to 108.5 ng/liter; mean level: 10.19 ng/liter), in 81 (84%) of Me dry milk samples tin amounts ranging from <1 ng/kg to 101.3 ng/kg; mean level: 21.77 ng/kg), and in 91 (80%) of the yogurt samples tin amounts ranging from <1 ng/liter to 496.5 ng/liter; mean level: 18.08 ng/liter). Altogether, only two samples of milk, two samples of yogurt, and one sample of dry milk had levels of AFM(1) exceeding the Swiss legal limits, which are the most restrictive in the world. AFM(1) contamination levels in milk and yogurt samples collected in the period of November to April were ca. four times as high as those in samples collected in the period of May to October. Iris concluded that during 1995, despite the widespread occurrence of AFM(1), the mean contamination levels in dairy products sold in Italy were not a serious human health hazard.