September 20, 2007

High mycotoxin levels in the UK prompt grain rejection fears 

This year's wheat harvest recorded the highest level of fusarium and mycotoxins in and some loads have already been rejected, the National Institute of Agicultural Botany (NIAB) said yesterday (September 19).

Testing at the Cambridge-based centre revealed that 90 percent of samples were infected with Fusarium species, compared with 60 to 70 percent in the last bad year for pink grains, grain specialist, David Kenyon said. Some 17 percent had "high" levels of infection - the highest proportion for 6 to 7 years, he said.

But importantly, background levels of the DON (deoxynivalenol) toxin were higher than normal in the majority of samples and several batches of wheat exceeded the EU threshold of 1250 parts per billion (ppb), which led to rejected loads, he said.