Assessment of AflatoxinM1 Contamination in UHT Flavored Milk Samples in Karaj, Iran

Abstract

This study was carried out to detect the presence of aflatoxin M1 (AFM1) in 30 UHT flavored milk samples in Karaj, Alborz province, Iran. High-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) was applied to analyze AFM1 in the samples. The results showed that aflatoxin M1 was detected in all the UHT flavored milk samples, the AFM1 concentration ranged from 0.015 to 0.14 µg/L. Also, 10 samples (33.3%) were contaminated with more than 0.05 µg/L of European Union regulations for aflatoxin M1. Wherease, according to the proposed Iranian national standard and FDA (0.5 µg/L), none of the samples has not been contaminated more than the maximum AFM1 concentrations threshold. This is the first report discovering the fact that UHT flavored milk is an important contributor to the dietary intake of AFM1 in Iran.