What is CGIAR doing on aflatoxins—And what are aflatoxins doing in the milk?
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The document outlines the global issue of aflatoxins, particularly their impact on human and animal health, and the role of CGIAR in addressing this through various interventions. It highlights the importance of preventing fungal growth in crops, the need for regulations, and the health risks associated with contaminated milk and food products. The presentation emphasizes that while there is no single solution to eradicate aflatoxins, a combination of strategies is necessary to ensure food safety.
What is CGIAR doing on aflatoxins—And what are aflatoxins doing in the milk?
- 1. Johanna Lindahl Delia Grace Finnish embassy meeting Nairobi November 24 2014 What is CGIAR doing on aflatoxins- and what are aflatoxins doing in the milk?
- 2. Today’s discussion What is CGIAR doing on aflatoxin? Why is ILRI involved?
- 3. Aflatoxins are a global issue
- 4. CGIAR are global institutes International Center for Tropical Agriculture (CIAT) International Crops Research Institute for the Semi-Arid Tropics (ICRISAT) International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA) International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI) International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT) International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI)
- 5. What do we want to prevent? 1. Negative health effects in humans 2. Negative health effects in animals affecting livestock production (nutrition & poverty reduction) 3. Negative economic impacts 4. Negative publicity 5. Negative health effects in animals (animal welfare)
- 6. Aflatoxins are a political issue
- 8. Aflatoxins are a major issue • Economic impact • Production losses • Regulation costs • Health costs (hard to know) • Health impact • Acute poisoning • Cancer • Immunosuppression • Stunting?
- 9. Why is it so scary? • Invisible toxin • Odourless • Heat-stable • And we are feeding it to our children Clean maize or fungus-free maize cobs. Photo by IITA.
- 10. But how big is the problem really for you and me? • Exposure of aflatoxin • Levels of aflatoxin • Consumption of contaminated products • ILRI is working on risk assessment with FoodAfrica • Who are the consumers? • Children • Pregnant and nursing mothers • The first 1000 days. • Where is the problems? • Risk mapping (FoodAfrica)
- 11. Farmer Consumer Economic flow Aflatoxin flow Human exposure Feed producer AB1 AB1 AB1-> AM1 AM1 Corn/feed produced at farm Corn/feed purchased Milk produced at farm AB1 AM1 Treatments Feed seller Farmer Veterinary services Milk retailer Agricultural services Consumer
- 12. What promotes the fungal growth? • Pre-harvest: damage by insects, draughts • Insects cause damage and are mechanical vectors • Post-harvest: Poor storage conditions Improper drying of grains - Different grains being dried on roadside with rains looming in the horizon. Photo by IITA
- 13. How is CGIAR approaching this? 1. Bridging the knowledge gap 2. Diagnostics 3. Pre-harvest interventions 4. Post-harvest interventions 5. Handling aflatoxin contaminated products 6. Policies and standards
- 14. Pre-harvest Prevent fungal growth pre-harvest: Insects and drought predisposes 1. Breeding for resistance Drought-tolerant, or insect-resistant maize 2. Good agricultural practices Fertilizers, pesticides, irrigation 3. Biological control using atoxigenic strains Aflasafe, Afla-guard
- 15. Post harvest Poor storage conditions pre-disposing 1. Good agricultural practices Pest control 2. Improved drying technologies (FoodAfrica) Improper drying of grains - Different grains being dried on roadside with rains looming in the horizon. Photo by IITA
- 16. Preventing consumption 1. Sorting 2. Legislation Limits for human and animal consumption 3. Treatment (detoxification) Ammoniation Ozone treatment Nixtamilization Fermentation Binders
- 17. Problems moping up: What to do with contaminated crops? • Feed to chicken • Feed to other animals • Discard in pit, manure • Mix with good crop and mill • Wash, dry, re-cook
- 18. Mitigating effects in the consumer Hepatitis B vaccination – Good effect!
- 19. Public awareness and dietary considerations Dietary diversification, switching from high-risk crop Consumption pattern Consumer awareness
- 20. Standards and policies Ref: Wu. VOL. 38, NO. 15, 2004 / ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY FDA limits National limits X now 10 ppt
- 21. Highly susceptible: oral LD50 (<1 mg per kg body weight) Rabbits, ducks, cats, swine, rainbow trout Moderately susceptible: oral LD50 (1-2 mg per kg body weight) Dogs, horses, calves, turkeys, guinea pigs, sheep, baboon Relatively resistant: oral LD50 (5-10 mg kg body weight) Chickens, rats, macaque monkeys, mouse, hamsters One teaspoon of aflatoxin is enough to kill 2,500 rabbits
- 22. The role of livestock • Livestock are affected by aflatoxins • Humans are dependent on livestock • Livestock can consume crop unsuitable for humans • Aflatoxins are metabolized and present in animal-source foods
- 23. Dairy products and levels of aflatoxin 0 200400600800 1,000ppt Lala PasteurizedMilk BoiledMilk PasteurizedMilk Raw Milk UHTYoghurt Pasteurized Lala Boiled milk Fresh milk Raw milk UHT milk Yoghurt
- 24. Variation over a year- purchase date. 0 50 100 150 200 250 300 350 400 450 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 Lala - Pasteurized Milk - Boiled Milk - Pasteurized Milk - Raw Milk - UHT Yoghurt - Pasteurized Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec
- 25. Projects on milk and livestock • Consumption patterns and risk assessment • Economic assessment • Association with stunting • Reduced growth in chickens and efficacy of binders
- 26. The risks with doing doing good
- 27. The consequences of regulations • The good crop goes to the formal market • The worst crops remain at the informal market • The best products are exported • The bad products are left to the national markets Photo by IITA.
- 28. The risks with uncertainty Do no harm! Interventions can not be allowed to increase risks of other hazards. Mycotoxin Main fungi Impact on animal health Aflatoxins Aspergillus spp All livestock susceptible to different degrees. Acute toxicity, hepatotoxic and nephrotoxic. Carcinogenic and mutagenic. Growth impairment. Immunosuppression. Ochratoxin A Aspergillus spp, Penicillum spp Nephrotoxic Immunosuppression Possibly carcinogenic Fumonisins Fusarium spp Toxic to liver and central nervous system Possibly carcinogenic Zearalenone Fusarium spp Swine highly sensitive, cattle less sensitive. Endocrine disruption. Estrogenic effects, reduced reproduction, feminisation, malformations. Trichotecenes Fusarium spp Gastrointestinal disturbance. Reduced feed intake. Ill-thrift. Immunosuppression. We don’t know how they interact!
- 29. Conclusions- importance of milk Milk have generally low levels of aflatoxins compared to other commodities. Aflatoxin M1 has unknown toxic effects on children We need to use evidence We must not forget the other hazards and mycotoxins We need to cooperate
- 30. Conclusions There is no silver bullet to eradicate aflatoxins -A battery of interventions to provide safer food in a world full of food safety hazards!
- 31. The ILRI work is financed by Ministry of foreign affairs, Finland, and the CGIAR Research Program on Agriculture for nutrition and health (CRP 4) It is implemented in a partnership with International food policy research institute (IFPRI), MTT Finland, Biosciences in eastern and central Africa (BecA) Acknowledgements
- 32. The presentation has a Creative Commons licence. You are free to re-use or distribute this work, provided credit is given to ILRI. better lives through livestock ilri.org