Occurrence of Aflatoxin M1 in Dairy Products in Southern Italy |
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| Authors: | Maria Teresa Montagna Christian Napoli Osvalda De Giglio Roberta Iatta Giovanna Barbuti |
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| Affiliation: | Department of Biomedical Science and Human Oncology, University of Bari, Piazza G. Cesare, 11 - 70124 Bari, Italy. E-Mails: (C. N.); (O. G.); (R. I.); (G. B.) |
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| Abstract: | A screening survey of the presence of aflatoxin M1 (AFM1) was carried out on 265 samples of cheese made from cow, buffalo, goat, sheep, sheep-goat milk collected in the Apulia region (Southern Italy). Selected samples included unripened, medium and long-term ripened cheeses. AFM1 was found in 16.6% of the analyzed samples. The highest positive incidence was for medium and long-term ripened cheeses, especially those made from sheep-goat milk, while buffalo cheeses tested consistently negative. Our results show that the level of contamination by AFM1 in dairy products from Apulia Region are lower than in other Italian and European regions. Moreover, it is important to underline that a common European norm concerning the AFM1 threshold limits for dairy products is still lacking. |
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| Keywords: | Aflatoxin M1 dairy products food safety |
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