Occurrence of Aflatoxin B(1), deoxynivalenol and zearalenone in feeds in China during 2018–2020

BACKGROUND: The current study was conducted to investigate the individual and combined occurrence of aflatoxin B(1) (AFB(1)), deoxynivalenol (DON) and zearalenone (ZEN) in feeds from various Provinces of China during 2018 to 2020. A total of 3,507 feed samples, including 2,090 feed ingredients and 1,417 complete feed samples, were collected from different areas of China for mycotoxins analysis. RESULTS: The individual contamination of AFB(1), DON and ZEN were present in more than 81.9%, 96.4% and 96.9% of feed samples, respectively, with average concentration ranges of AFB(1) between 1.2–27.4 μg/kg, DON between 458.0–1,925.4 μg/kg and ZEN between 48.1–326.8 μg/kg. Notably, 0.9%, 0.5% and 0.1% of feed ingredients, and 1.2–12.8%, 0.9–2.9% and 0–8.9% of complete feeds for pigs, poultry and ruminants with AFB(1), ZEN and DON that exceeded China’s safety standards, respectively. Moreover, more than 81.5% of feed ingredients and 95.7% of complete feeds were co-contaminated with various combinations of these mycotoxins. CONCLUSION: This study indicates that the feeds in China were universally contaminated with AFB(1), DON and ZEN during the past 3 years. These findings highlight the significance of monitoring mycotoxin contaminant levels in the domestic animal feed, and the importance of carrying out feed administration and remediation strategies for mycotoxin control.