Aflatoxin occurrence in milk and supplied concentrates of goat farms of north- eastern Italy

BACKGROUND: There is little information about the occurrence of aflatoxin M-1 in goat milk. A survey involving 17 dairy goat farms of north-eastern Italy was completed during 2005 and 2006, in order to evaluate the prevalence of milk contamination and its relationship with type and level of concentrate supplied.RESULTS: 132 concentrate and 85 milk samples were collected during five farm visits and analysed for aflatoxins. Aflatoxin B-1 (AFB(1)) was >0.1 mu g kg(-1) in two-thirds of the feeds and >5 mu g kg(-1) in nine. Contamination was higher in maize than in other pure feeds (median: 0.8 versus 0.1 mu g kg(-1)); complementary feeds showed intermediate values. Aflatoxin M-1 (AFM(1)) was >3 ng kg(-1) in one-third of milks and >25 ng kg(-1) in three. All the milk samples were below EU statutory limits. The farm ranks for milk AFM(1) level and the peak of concentrate AFB(1) contamination were significantly correlated (0.642).CONCLUSIONS: Risk to human health was generally found to be absent, with only a few cases involving feed contamination to be monitored. The main aflatoxin risk for goat milk could arise from maize and maize-based concentrates in the more intensive breeding conditions.