Occurrence of aflatoxin M(1) in cheeses from the south of Spain

Thirty-five samples of commercial cheeses, 9 fresh, 9 semicured or semiripened and 17 ripened made with different types of milk (cow, ewe, goat and mixtures of milk of various species) produced in the South of Spain were analyzed for the presence of aflatoxin M(1) (AFM(1)) by high-performance liquid chromatography. In 16 of the 35 samples (45.71%) the presence of AFM(1) was detected in concentrations ranging between 20 and 200 ng/g of cheese. In the positive cases, the mean levels of AFM(1) were 105.33 ng/g in ripened cheeses, 73.80 ng/g in semiripened cheeses and 42.60 ng/g in fresh cheeses.