Are Mycotoxins The New Gluten?
Goodbye gluten, hello mycotoxin. The mold byproduct hiding in everything from dog food to coffee is poised to become the next health buzzword.
Hot on the heels of a lawsuit alleging that thousands of dogs may have been poisoned by mycotoxins, a toxic mold byproduct found in grains, a new study places them in an even more sinister location: our breakfast cereal.
Published in the Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry by Hyun Jung Lee and Dojin Ryu of the University of Idaho’s School of Food Science, the paper, “Significance of Ochratoxin A in Breakfast Cereals from the United States,” is the latest in a long series of studies.
Throughout a period of two years, Lee and Ryu tested 489 samples of grain-based cereals from seven different markets across the country, looking for the presence of Ochratoxin A (OCA), the most common of mycotoxins, and one that is “considered to be a potent renal carcinogen.” OCA has also demonstrated neurotoxic and immunosuppressant effects, and is suspected as a trigger for autism, especially in males.
Of the 489 samples, 205, or 42 percent, showed OCA contamination, though almost all of them were well below the European Commission Regulations of 3 nanograms per gram, or roughly 3 parts per billion. The paper gives a nod to the EC Regulation limits because our own U.S. Food and Drug Administration does not impose any limits on mycotoxin content in food products.
Only 16 samples, all oat-based, were above the ECR threshold. Their study found that oat-based cereals contained the highest OCA contamination, at 70 percent. It was followed by wheat-based, at 32 percent, and then corn and rice-based, both at 15 percent.
OCA is produced mainly by two different fungi, Aspergillus Ochraceus and Penicillium Verrucosum, and is one of the most widespread mycotoxin contaminants–aside from grains, it can also be found in coffee, grapes, wine, pork, and water damaged homes. OCA’s host molds need only a combination of high moisture and temperature to occur, and grains can become contaminated in both the field and in storage.
And it’s tenacious.
