WG Leader: Isabelle Oswald, INRA, France

Members: Eleni Tzika, Panagiotis Tassis, AUTH, Greece; Jana Hajslova, VSCHT, Czech Republic; Anca Nicolau, Iulina Aprodu, UDJG, Romania; Ionelia Taranu, Daniela Marin, IBNA, Romania; Gerd Schatzmayr, Biomin, Austria, Alberto Ritieni, UNAP, Italy.

Research topics for the future:

TOPIC: Evaluation of occurrence, exposure and toxicity of masked mycotoxins for a proper risk assessment.; Chemical transformation of mycotoxins during different biological and chemical processes (microbial fermentation, plant and animal metabolism, food processing, etc) could result into the generation of masked mycotoxins that cannot be detected by conventional analytical studies.The present topic aims to the recognition of the toxicological relevance of masked mycotoxins in food with the final aim to contribute to the establishment of an overall mycotoxintoxicity, which will be used by regulatory bodies, food manufacturers and monitoring authorities to protect the consumer health. As some mycotoxin transformation products are more difficult to be detected (eg. bounded form)there is a need to develop/extend the analytical methodsto include newly discovered transformation products of mycotoxins.Developing of proper analyse methods is a key factor for the assessment of the masked mycotoxin occurrence and will allow the increase of efficiency and effectiveness of the exposure evaluation.Toxicity assessment for all mycotoxin derivatives that occur in food is important for the estimation of the health risk and toxicological studies concerning masked mycotoxins are needed for setting the future maximum residue limits. Expected Impact: Development of new analytical methods for the new discovered mycotoxin transformation products, providing data on the masked mycotoxin toxicity, scientific support to relevant EU policies.

Workshops organised

The working group organised a specific myctotoxin session during the 2nd FOODSEG Symposium in Bucharest, Romania. In Addition, the group organised a workshop on mycotoxin issues in Naples, Italy. See more under FOODSEG Events.

Relevant publications by the Group:

Title (and if available Link): Current situation of mycotoxin contamination and co-occurrence in animal feed--focus on Europe link: www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3496989/, Authors:Streit E, Schatzmayr G, Tassis P, Tzika E, Marin D, Taranu I, Tabuc C, Nicolau A, Aprodu I, Puel O, Oswald IP. Title/No. of periodical:Toxins (Basel). 2012 Oct;4(10):788-809. doi: 10.3390/toxins4100788. Epub 2012 Oct 1, Year of publication: 2012

The article´s essential statements:In the present paper, we reviewed the data published since 2004 concerning the contamination of animal feed with single or combinations of mycotoxins and highlighted the occurrence of these co-contaminations.

- not yet published articles:

Title:In vitro analysis of mycotoxin toxicological interactions: Methodological aspects and biological relevance. Authors: I. Alassane-Kpembi, I. Oswald, .. The article´s essential statements: Here, we summarize the experimental designs and statistical aspects as well as the conclusions drawn from in vitro experiments exploring interactions in combined toxicity of mycotoxins