Aflatoxin and food safety: Recent south American perspectives

South America (SA) is predominantly a tropical and subtropical continent and provides environmental conditions favorable for fungus growth on food crops, especially the species Aspergillus flavus and A. parasiticus. Depending on the grain and weather conditions in certain regions of SA, high levels of aflatoxins (AFLs) can be produced during harvesting or storage. That is a real problem in most of the continent. South American economies rely upon government policies to address issues of food safety. As expected, the exporting countries must comply with the standards and regulations that are implemented by the importing country. Thus, the highest quality and safest commodity food products are sold internationally. Conversely, food for internal consumption does not meet the same high quality standards compared with exports. Some SA governments have established food safety guidelines and regulations for AFL control in national food supplies. Research is currently being conducted to determine the levels of naturally occurring AFLs in a range of locally processed foods. These countries include: Brazil, Argentina, Colombia, Venezuela, and Uruguay, the main grain exporting countries in SA. Most contaminated food commodities in SA include peanut and peanut products, followed by corn. The regions most affected by AFL contamination in SA include mainly the peanut-producing countries of northern SA as well as Brazil, Argentina, Uruguay, and Paraguay. Aflatoxin contamination of feeds and foodstuffs seems greater in Colombia and Ecuador. On the other hand, AFLs in corn is high in Venezuela. This review summarizes work published on AFLs throughout the previous decade. While most of the research has been performed in Brazil, Argentina, and Uruguay, other SA countries including Colombia and Venezuela also have played an important role in AFL research. Conversely, few studies on AFLs have been performed in Bolivia, Chile, Ecuador, and Peru, and no studies have been done in French Guyana, Guyana, Paraguay, and Suriname. There is a lack of data on the SA population exposure to AFLs, either using biomarkers or by evaluating the incidence of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) and its relation to AFLs in SA diets.