Mycotoxin, << `my` kuh TOK suhn, >> is any one of a number of poisonous chemicals produced by fungi. Mycotoxins form on moldy food crops and other plants, though not all molds produce mycotoxins. Crops most often infected by mycotoxins include peanuts, corn, rice, and wheat. Foods or livestock feed made from contaminated crops can poison people and animals. Meat and milk products from animals that have eaten infected grain also may harm humans. Government agencies in the United States and other countries check mycotoxin levels in food and animal feed.
Dampness promotes the formation of molds that produce mycotoxins. Such molds tend to develop in hot, humid regions, but they can also form in cold climates. During the 1940’s, for example, thousands of people in the Soviet Union died from eating grain that was left in snow-covered fields and became contaminated. Proper harvesting, drying, and storage of crops help prevent molds that produce mycotoxins from forming.
Research on a group of mycotoxins called aflatoxins has suggested that mycotoxins cause other illnesses besides food poisoning. For example, scientists have discovered that feeding low doses of aflatoxin B-1 to laboratory animals can cause liver cancer. As a result, the United Nations’ International Agency for Research on Cancer classifies this mycotoxin as a substance that can produce human cancer.
