RASFF Study Finds Aflatoxins Dominate EU Mycotoxin Notifications, Non-EU Products Account for Over 90% of Cases
A peer-reviewed analysis of 2,479 RASFF mycotoxin notifications from 2020 to 2024 by University of Córdoba researchers finds that aflatoxins drove 84% of recorded cases, with nuts, seeds, and products of non-EU origin accounting for the largest shares. The study cautions against reading notification counts as direct measures of contamination prevalence, but highlights persistent risk in a narrow set of commodity groups relevant to feed and food ingredient buyers.
Researchers at the University of Córdoba have published a peer-reviewed analysis of mycotoxin-related notifications recorded in the European Union's Rapid Alert System for Food and Feed (RASFF) between 2020 and 2024, identifying aflatoxins as the dominant hazard and imported products as the primary source of recorded cases.
The study, published in Toxins on 4 September 2026, examined 2,479 RASFF notifications by notification type, risk classification, product category, country of origin, notifying country, and individual mycotoxin. Aflatoxins were involved in 2,076 notifications, equivalent to 84% of the dataset, while ochratoxins accounted for 361 cases, or 15%. Aflatoxin B1 alone appeared in 1,848 notifications.
Nuts, nut products, and seeds were the largest affected product category, representing 54% of all mycotoxin notifications and 64% of those involving aflatoxins. Fruit and vegetables accounted for 23% of the overall dataset, followed by cereals and bakery products at 10%.
Products originating outside the EU accounted for more than 90% of the notifications examined. Türkiye represented 24% of cases and the United States 14%, with India, Egypt, Iran, Argentina, and Pakistan also prominent among countries associated with recorded notifications.
Border rejections accounted for 68% of the mycotoxin notifications, followed by alerts at 16%, information notifications for attention at 13%, and information notifications for follow-up at 2%. Around 92% of the notifications from 2020 to 2024 were classified as presenting a serious risk, while 2,385 of the 2,479 cases concerned food intended for human consumption.
The researchers explicitly caution against using the counts as direct measures of contamination prevalence or population exposure. As the source article notes, RASFF records regulatory non-compliances that have been detected and reported, so notification totals are influenced by trade volumes, sampling intensity, border-control activity, and surveillance practices.
The study also recorded an increase in ochratoxin A notifications from 44 in 2020 to 117 in 2024. The authors caution that the change could reflect reporting frequency and improved detection as well as changes in contamination, with climate-related effects on fungal growth cited as another possible influence. The analysis does not attribute the increase to a single cause.
Across the longer 2012–2024 period, the researchers found no statistically significant long-term increase in annual mycotoxin notifications. Total RASFF notifications rose over the same period, while mycotoxins fell as a share of all notifications from around 15–16% in 2015–2018 to approximately 9–12% in 2023–2024.
For feed ingredient buyers and food processors, the concentration of notifications around nuts, seeds, dried produce, and cereals identifies commodity groups where supplier approval processes, sampling plans, certificates of analysis, and incoming-material controls require particular attention. The study's findings sit alongside recent EU scrutiny of aflatoxin controls on US peanuts, with both developments pointing to persistent rather than uniformly worsening risk, according to the source article's interpretation.
Prepared with AI assistance and reviewed by the editorial team.
