Beyond the Limits: How the World Is Tackling Mycotoxins

As mycotoxins continue to pose health and trade challenges globally, countries are turning policy into practice—shifting from permissible thresholds to capacity-building, digital education, biocontrol innovation, and decontamination technologies. In this fourth edition of our mycotoxins series, TechPalate Insights explores how different nations and regions are responding to this persistent threat, and what Africa can adapt in its journey.

When conversations around mycotoxins arise, they often begin and end with regulatory limits. But beneath those thresholds lies a deeper and more complex story—one of enforcement systems, collaborative models, and on-the-ground interventions. Across continents, responses are transitioning from compliance on paper to real-world action across the food value chain.

Europe: Enforcement Meets Innovation

The European Union is often cited for its robust regulatory framework, but its strength lies in the architecture that supports implementation. The Rapid Alert System for Food and Feed (RASFF) enables swift cross-border response when contaminated food or feed is detected.

Complementing this system are mandatory testing regimes, extensive laboratory networks, and predictive modelling tools used to anticipate high-risk seasons. Some member states, including Germany and the Netherlands, have integrated blockchain into their grain supply chains to improve traceability. The region’s shared-responsibility model ensures that food businesses are accountable for compliance, while governments provide oversight and technical infrastructure.

The United States: Prevention as Policy

The United States favors a prevention-first, risk-based model. The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) issues action levels for contaminants like aflatoxins and provides detailed guidance on Good Agricultural Practices (GAPs) and Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Points (HACCP) systems.

Key to the U.S. model is its emphasis on collaboration. The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), through its Agricultural Research Service, works closely with producers to develop resistant crop varieties and pre-harvest interventions, including biocontrol agents such as non-toxic strains of Aspergillus flavus. This upstream approach seeks to reduce dependence on post-harvest testing while maintaining food safety and trade integrity.

Latin America: Regional Coalitions in Action

In Latin America, regional collaboration is shaping how countries address the mycotoxin threat. The Latin American Network of Mycotoxins and Food Contaminants (Red Latinoamericana de Micotoxinas) facilitates joint capacity building, knowledge exchange, and the harmonization of sampling and testing protocols.

Brazil’s National Health Surveillance Agency (ANVISA) has updated its regulatory thresholds to reflect actual exposure levels, while supporting its implementation through national surveillance and laboratory investments. This approach blends local enforcement with regional coordination, offering a hybrid model for countries with shared agro-ecological conditions.

Aflatoxins Under Watch in Africa 

In Africa, aflatoxins remain among the most pervasive mycotoxins, with implications for public health and international trade. However, recent years have seen a shift from isolated interventions to multisectoral strategies that include digital education, biocontrol technologies, and cross-border frameworks.

Kenya: Capacity Building and Biocontrol Solutions

In Kenya, efforts under the Market Access Upgrade Programme (MARKUP Kenya)—implemented by the United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO)—have led to the development of a comprehensive aflatoxin control guide targeting stakeholders across the value chain. A companion handbook tailored for regulators was also released, providing a long-term resource for entities such as the Kenya Bureau of Standards and the Department of Public Health.

Thousands of farmers, millers, inspectors, and traders have received training through the programme. The approach includes the promotion of Aflasafe, an organic biocontrol product used to suppress aflatoxin-producing fungi in soil. The project also extends to trade-heavy border counties such as Kajiado and Busia, where contamination risks intersect with trade dynamics.

Ghana: Digital Tools for Farmer Education

In Ghana, Akuafo Hub, in collaboration with the Centre for African Leaders in Agriculture (CALA) and AGRA, launched a digital training initiative for maize farmers in early 2024. Designed to address post-harvest risks—particularly during drying, shelling, and storage—the programme uses voice messaging to deliver training content, overcoming literacy barriers among smallholder farmers.

Close to 2,000 farmers have enrolled, with the model drawing interest for its scalability and potential to embed food safety principles directly at the producer level. The initiative integrates policy experts and food safety practitioners to create a context-aware learning environment.

Uganda, Tanzania, Nigeria: Systemic Interventions Emerge

Uganda’s Grain Council has introduced a code of conduct for all grain stakeholders, including farmers, aggregators, and processors. This framework formalizes responsibilities for maintaining grain quality and minimizing aflatoxin contamination, reflecting growing momentum for self-regulation within the private sector.

Tanzania recently concluded its five-year TANIPAC project, which reached over 60,000 farmers. Supported by the African Development Bank, WHO, and USAID, the initiative enhanced post-harvest handling practices, installed waterproof storage facilities, and introduced mobile testing laboratories at border points.

In Nigeria, aflatoxins are directly linked to trade barriers. According to the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), 39% of Nigerian export rejections by the EU between 1980 and 2016 were due to aflatoxin contamination. In response, a national FAO-supported programme is strengthening aflatoxin mitigation efforts across four pilot states. FAO estimates that failure to address the issue could result in over 2,400 liver cancer cases annually and nearly US$1 billion in economic losses.

Technology and Trade: Decontamination and Dairy Solutions

Kenya has also become the first country on the continent to install commercial-scale aflatoxin decontamination units. Donated by Canada through TradeMark Africa, the units—located in Bungoma and Nairobi—are operated by the National Cereals and Produce Board (NCPB) and can reduce aflatoxin levels in grains, pulses, and nuts by up to 98%.

Meanwhile, Kenya’s dairy sector has joined the mitigation effort. In partnership with USAID, Bio Food Products Ltd recently launched the “Safe Milk Kenya” initiative. With funding exceeding US$500,000, the programme targets aflatoxin contamination in milk—a reminder that the risks extend beyond grains and into animal-derived products.

What Africa Can Learn—and Teach

The global response to mycotoxins is far from uniform, but common threads are emerging. Countries are increasingly prioritizing integrated approaches that link regulation, research, capacity-building, and technology. Africa’s diverse interventions—ranging from mobile training in Ghana to regulatory handbooks in Kenya—show how context-driven solutions are shaping a new response framework.

At the same time, lessons from Europe’s enforcement infrastructure, the U.S.’ prevention-based model, and Latin America’s regional coalitions offer pathways for refining African strategies. Whether through regional harmonization, cross-sector accountability, or investment in predictive tools, the trajectory is clear: mycotoxin control is no longer about limits alone—it’s about how those limits are made meaningful in practice.

Coming Up Next

Next week, we wrap up the Mycotoxins Unmasked series with a special Q&A with Pribolab Ltd . What better way to close than by hearing directly from those on the frontlines of detection, diagnostics, and innovation.Stay tuned.

From Our Archives

Catch up on the earlier editions of the Mycotoxins Unmasked series:

• Edition 1: Mycotoxins: The Silent Contaminants Lurking in Our Food

• Edition 2: How Mycotoxins Sneak into Our Food & The Fight Against Them

• Edition 3: Beyond Borders – How Countries Are Taking on Aflatoxins

Stay curious, stay informed—with TechPalate Insights.