Occurrence and co-occurrence of mycotoxins and their modified forms in children food and risk assessment

Mycotoxins are the toxic metabolites produced by the fungi that grow in food crops; however, the modified mycotoxins are the undetectable metabolites during testing for the parent mycotoxin. Although more than 300 mycotoxins were discovered and identified, little is known about the effects of most of them or their modified forms on child health. Aflatoxins are well known to induce liver cancer and play a significant role in the impairment of child growth. Fumonisin also are known to induce esophageal cancer and neural tube defects. However, deoxynivalenol and the other trichothecenes are well known as immunotoxic and induce gastroenteritis. In this review, the adverse health hazards in children associated with the major mycotoxins as well as the modified forms of fusarium mycotoxins were described. Additionally, the global burden of the health ghazards resulted from the exposure of children to dietary mycotoxin. The risk assessment, risk characterization and the challenges in risk characterization of multiple mycotoxins in children food were discussed.