The prevalence of aflatoxins in commercial baby food products: A global systematic review, meta-analysis, and risk assessment study

Background: Aflatoxins are groups of mycotoxins that can be generally found in foods, particularly cereals and nuts. Cereal-based baby foods are important energy supplement sources, though the possibility of mycotoxin contamination in these products have been reported frequently. Scope and approach: this systematic review and meta-analysis study was designed to survey the occurrence rate of aflatoxins in cereal-based baby food products and conduct a risk assessment with the data gathered. Web of Science, Scopus, PubMed, AGRICOLA, and Google Scholar were searched systematically from 2000 to 2020. Key findings and conclusions: The overall prevalence of aflatoxins was counted as 23% (95% CI: 15-32%). A highly severe heterogeneity of results was observed, and no subgroups could explore the source for this outcome. In contrast, African countries' subgroups and assessment methods applying for aflatoxins determination were the primary sources of prevalence changes. Also, risk assessment results indicated that baby food consumption induces risk for consumers, and roughly 75% of the world's baby's population is at risk considering the Margin of Exposure (MoE) < 10,000. To conclude, cereal-based foods are important sources of nutrition for any group of consumers universally, hence stressing the need for stringent control measures to avoid aflatoxins contamination in these crucial food products.