Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Level of aflatoxins in dairy feeds, poultry feeds, and feed ingredients produced by feed factories in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia

  • Original Article
  • Published:
Mycotoxin Research Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Aflatoxins are one of the major factors that affect the quality and safety of feeds. They can be transferred into livestock through contaminated feed and then onto humans via animal sources of food such as milk, meat, and eggs. The objective of this study was to detect and quantify the level of aflatoxins (B1, B2, G1, G2, and total aflatoxin) in dairy feeds, poultry (layer and broiler) feeds, and feed ingredients produced in Addis Ababa. A total of 42 feeds and feed ingredients consisting of dairy feeds (n = 5), poultry broiler feeds (n = 6), layer feeds (n = 6), and feed ingredients (n = 25) were collected from feed factories in the city and analyzed in fresh weigh basis. The aflatoxins were analyzed using high-performance liquid chromatography after clean-up with immunoaffinity columns. Aflatoxin B1 levels in feeds ranged from 51.66 to 370.51 µg/kg in dairy cattle feed, from 1.45 to 139.51 µg/kg in poultry layer feed, and from 16.49 to 148.86 µg/kg in broiler feed. Aflatoxin B1 levels in maize ranged from 2.64 to 46.74 µg/kg and in Niger seed cake from 110.93 to 438.86 µg/kg. Aflatoxin B1 levels in wheat bran, wheat middling, and soybean were below 5 µg/kg. 100% of dairy feeds, 67% of poultry layer, 67% of broiler feeds, and 24% of ingredients contained aflatoxin in levels higher than the maximum tolerable limit set by the US Food and Drug Administration and Ethiopian Standard Agency. This shows the need for strong regulatory monitoring and better feed management practices to prevent consumers of animal-source foods from significant health impacts associated with aflatoxins.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Similar content being viewed by others

Data availability statement

The raw data of the feed and feed ingredients HPLC raw results and chromatogram presented in this study are openly available in Mendeley Data at https://doi.org/10.17632/ppwdt849m9.1.

References

  • Adugna T (2008) Feed resources and feeding management: a manual for feedlot operators and development workers. Ethiopian Sanitary &Phyto-sanitary Standards and Livestock & Meat marketing Program (SPS-LMM) Texa Agricultural Experiment Station (TAES)/Texas A&M University System, Addis Ababa.

  • Afsah-Hejri L, Jinap S, Hajeb P, Radu S, Shakibazadeh S (2013) A review on mycotoxins in food and feed: Malaysia case study. Compr Rev Food Sci Food Saf 12(6):629–651

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Akande KE, Abubakar MM, Adegbola TA, Bogoro SE (2006) Nutritional and health implications of mycotoxins in animal feeds: a review. Pak J Nutr 5(5):398–403

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Alahlah N, Maadoudi ME, Bouchriti N, Triqui R, Stitou M, Hafid NH, Ouahabi OE (2021) Occurrence of aflatoxin B1 in animal feed collected from the northeastern area of Morocco. World’s Vet J 11(4):587–593

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Alshawabkeh K, Alkhalaileh NI, Abdelqader A, Al-Fataftah ARA, Herzallah SM (2015) Occurrence of aflatoxin B1 in poultry feed and feed ingredients in Jordan using ELISA and HPLC. Am-Eurasian J Toxicol Sci 7(4):316–320

    Google Scholar 

  • Anjum MA, Khan SH, Sahota AW, Sardar R (2012) Assessment of aflatoxin B1 in commercial poultry feed and feed ingredients. J Anim Plant Sci 22(2):268–272

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Balehegn M, Varijakshapanicker P, Zampaligre N, Blummel M, Ayantunde A, Jones C, ... Adesogan AT (2022) Near‐infrared reflectance spectroscopy for forage nutritive value analysis in sub‐Saharan African countries. Agron J 114(1):100–114

  • Bankole SA, Adebanjo A (2003) Mycotoxins in food in West Africa: current situation and possibilities of controlling it. Afr J Biotech 2(9):254–263

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Chu FS (2006) Mycotoxins and alimentary mycotoxicoses. HP Rieman, and DO Cliver, eds, 583–661

  • Creppy EE (2002) Update of survey, regulation and toxic effects of mycotoxins in Europe. Toxicol Lett 127(1–3):19–28

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Duncan HE, Hagler M (2008) Aflatoxins and other mycotoxins. Oklahoma Cooperative Extension. Fact Sheet (CR-2105-1203), Oklahoma, USA

  • ESA (Ethiopian Standard Agency) (2019) Limits of contaminants in compound feed for lactating dairy cows and poultry feeds

  • EU (2002) European Commission. Directive 2002/32/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 7 May 2002 on undesirable substances in animal feed. Official J Eur Com 140:10–21

    Google Scholar 

  • FDA (2019) Food and Drug Administration. CPG Sec. 683.100 Action Levels for Aflatoxins in Animal Feeds

  • Gallo A, Giuberti G, Frisvad JC, Bertuzzi T, Nielsen KF (2015) Review on mycotoxin issues in ruminants: occurrence in forages, effects of mycotoxin ingestion on health status and animal performance and practical strategies to counteract their negative effects. Toxins 7(8):3057–3111

    Article  CAS  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  • Gizachew D, Szonyi B, Tegegne A, Hanson J, Grace D (2016) Aflatoxin contamination of milk and dairy feeds in the Greater Addis Ababa milk shed, Ethiopia. Food Control 59:773–779

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Granados-Chinchilla F, Molina A, Chavarría G, Alfaro-Cascante M, Bogantes-Ledezma D, Murillo-Williams A (2017) Aflatoxins occurrence through the food chain in Costa Rica: applying the One Health approach to mycotoxin surveillance. Food Control 82:217–226

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Greco M, Capretti G, Beretta L, Gemma M, Pecorelli N, Braga M (2014) Enhanced recovery program in colorectal surgery: a meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials. World J Surg 38(6):1531–1541

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Harris PA, Nelson S, Carslake HB, Argo CM, Wolf R, Fabri FB, ... Ellis AD (2018) Comparison of NIRS and wet chemistry methods for the nutritional analysis of haylages for horses. J Equine Vet Sci 71:13–20

  • Horwitz W (2002) AOAC guidelines for single laboratory validation of chemical methods for dietary supplements and botanicals. Gaithersburg, MD, USA: AOAC International 12–9

  • Horwitz W, Latimer GW (2005) Official methods of analysis of AOAC International. Gaithersburg, Md: AOAC International

  • ISO 6497:2002 Animal feeding stuffs – sampling. International Organization for Standardization (ISO)

  • ISO 6498:2012 Animal feeding stuffs – guidelines for sample preparation. International Organization for Standardization (ISO)

  • Kassaw TS, Megerssa YC, Woldemariyam FT (2022) Occurrence of aflatoxins in poultry feed in selected chicken rearing villages of Bishoftu Ethiopia. Vet Med: Res Reports 277–286

  • Khanafari A, Soudi H, Miraboulfathi M (2007) Biocontrol of Aspergillus flavus and aflatoxin B1 production in corn. J Environ Health Sci Eng 4(3):163–168

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Kotinagu K, Mohanamba T, Kumari LR (2015) Assessment of aflatoxin B1 in livestock feed and feed ingredients by high-performance thin layer chromatography. Veterinary World 8(12):1396

    Article  CAS  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  • Lee HS, Nguyen-Viet H, Lindahl J, Thanh HM, Khanh TN, Hien LTT, Grace D (2017) A survey of aflatoxin B1 in maize and awareness of aflatoxins in Vietnam. World Mycotoxin J 10(2):195–202

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Magembe KS, Mwatawala MW, Mamiro DP, Chingonikaya EE (2016) Assessment of awareness of mycotoxins infections in stored maize (Zea mays L.) and groundnut (arachis hypogea L.) in Kilosa District, Tanzania. Int J Food Contam 3(1):12

  • Makau CM, Matofari JW, Muliro PS, Bebe BO (2016) Aflatoxin B 1 and deoxynivalenol contamination of dairy feeds and presence of aflatoxin M 1 contamination in milk from smallholder dairy systems in Nakuru. Kenya Int J Food Contam 3(1):6

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Nemati Z, Janmohammadi H, Taghizadeh A, Maleki Nejad H, Mogaddam G, Arzanlou M (2014) Occurrence of aflatoxins in poultry feed and feed ingredients from northwestern Iran. Eur J Zoological Res 3(3):56–60

    Google Scholar 

  • Nsiah B, Ofori H, Oduro-Yeboah C, Kyereh E,  Johnson PNT (2023) Incidences of aflatoxin contaminations in ingredients, feed and products of poultry from two regions in Ghana. Heliyon, 9(12)

  • Oliveira CAF IV, Kobashigawa E, Reis TA, Mestieri L, Albuquerque R, Correa LMB (2000) Aflatoxin B1 residues in eggs of laying hens fed a diet containing different levels of the mycotoxin. Food Addit Contam 17(6):459–462

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Oruc HH, Cengiz M, Uzunoglu İ (2007) Occurrence of aflatoxin B1 and T-2 toxin in FEED and raw ingredients used for animal feeding stuffs (Bazı Yem ve Yem Hammaddelerinde Aflatoksin B1 veT-2 Toksin Düzeyleri). Uludağ Üniversitesi Veteriner Fakültesi Dergisi 26(1–2):1–5

    Google Scholar 

  • Pinotti L,  Dell’Orto V (2011) Feed safety in the feed supply chain. BASE.

  • Rehrahie MG (2018) Aflatoxins, heavy metals, and safety issues in dairy feeds, milk and water in some selected areas of Ethiopia (doctoral dissertation, Addis Ababa University).

  • Rodrigues I, Naehrer K (2012) A three-year survey on the worldwide occurrence of mycotoxins in feedstuffs and feed. Toxins 4(9):663–675

    Article  CAS  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  • Schmidt-Heydt M, Rüfer CE, Abdel-Hadi A, Magan N, Geisen R (2010) The production of aflatoxin B 1 or G 1 by Aspergillus parasiticus at various combinations of temperature and water activity is related to the ratio of aflS to aflR expression. Mycotoxin Res 26(4):241–246

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Yiannikouris A, Jouany JP (2002) Mycotoxins in feeds and their fate in animals: a review. Anim Res 51(2):81–99

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgements

The authors would like to thank Kunifira Agro-processing PLC for their financial contribution. The authors would like to acknowledge the feed factories and farmers who provided samples and all required information. Bless Agri Food Laboratory Services PLC provided all research supplies and laboratory space for the research.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Center for Food Science and Nutrition, College of Natural and Computational Sciences, Addis Ababa University, P.O. Box 1176, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia

    Genet Mengesha, Tilahun Bekele, Henok Ashagrie & Ashagrie Zewdu Woldegiorgis

Authors
  1. Genet Mengesha
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Tilahun Bekele
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Henok Ashagrie
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  4. Ashagrie Zewdu Woldegiorgis
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Ashagrie Zewdu Woldegiorgis.

Ethics declarations

Conflict of interest

The authors declare no competing interests.

Additional information

Publisher's Note

Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.

Rights and permissions

Springer Nature or its licensor (e.g. a society or other partner) holds exclusive rights to this article under a publishing agreement with the author(s) or other rightsholder(s); author self-archiving of the accepted manuscript version of this article is solely governed by the terms of such publishing agreement and applicable law.

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Mengesha, G., Bekele, T., Ashagrie, H. et al. Level of aflatoxins in dairy feeds, poultry feeds, and feed ingredients produced by feed factories in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. Mycotoxin Res 40, 309–318 (2024). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12550-024-00531-8

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Revised:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12550-024-00531-8

Keywords

Search

Navigation