Emerging Mycotoxins: Beyond Traditionally Determined Food Contaminants

Modern
analytical techniques can determine a multitude of fungal
metabolites contaminating food and feed. In addition to known mycotoxins,
for which maximum levels in food are enforced, also currently unregulated,
so-called “emerging mycotoxins” were shown to occur
frequently in agricultural products. The aim of this review is to
critically discuss the relevance of selected emerging mycotoxins to
food and feed safety. Acute and chronic toxicity as well as occurrence
data are presented for enniatins, beauvericin, moniliformin, fusaproliferin,
fusaric acid, culmorin, butenolide, sterigmatocystin, emodin, mycophenolic
acid, alternariol, alternariol monomethyl ether, and tenuazonic acid.
By far not all of the detected compounds are toxicologically relevant
at their naturally occurring levels and are therefore of little or
no health concern to consumers. Still, gaps in knowledge have been
identified for several compounds. These gaps should be closed by the
scientific community in the coming years to allow a proper risk assessment.