Our latest publication sheds a new light on the mycotoxin contamination of cereals and cereal-based foods. Fabian Dick et al. developed a QuEChERS-based multi-mycotoxin method, analysing 24 Alternaria and Fusarium toxins via UHPLC-MS/MS. 136 cereals and cereal-based foods were analysed, including 28 infant food products. Over 95 % of the samples were contaminated with at least one mycotoxin. 

For wheat, spelt and rye, DON was the main contaminant and other trichotecenes were found only sporadically. Oat samples stood out with a generally higher T-2 and HT-2 content. Highest amounts of T-2 were found in a millet samples, highest amounts of ZEN in a corn flour sample. Trichotecene contamination in rice samples was generally low, with contents below those reported in the literature. Almost all samples were contaminated with Alternaria toxins, proving their ubiquitous occurrence. Interestingly, in many of those samples, some modified Alternaria toxins occurred, mainly alternariol-3-sulfate (AOH-3-S) and alternariol monomethyl ether-3-sulfate (AME-3-S). This highlights the importance of including modified mycotoxins in the routine analysis as they may significantly add to the total exposure of their parent toxins. 

Despite the general contamination, no maximum or indicative levels were exceeded. Infant foods were generally less contaminated than other samples. Only four samples were completely free of the analysed mycotoxins, all of them infant foods. Nevertheless, individual samples of raw materials that are used for infant food, like rice or millet, had high values in AOH, AME and TeA. Together with modified forms (sulfates of AOH and AME) this highlights the importance of further screening infant foods for Alternaria mycotoxins. 

The method is a crucial step forward in multi-mycotoxin analysis. Especially, the QuEChERS was extensively optimized to be competitive with our group’s previously developed SPE methods while including more analytes, being faster, and reducing the workup time and costs. The workup procedure promises great compatibility for many analytes over a vast range of polarities and matrices and might be implemented for the analysis of other mycotoxins, like aflatoxins and ochratoxins. 

All details regarding materials and methods, as well as further results are available in open-access here.