Contribution of cereals and cows' milk consumption to the exposure to mycotoxins: a study with Portuguese children.

The ubiquitous occurrence of mycotoxins in the environment results in unavoidable and repeated human exposure to mixtures of mycotoxins, the main exposure being through the consumption of contaminated foods, such as cereals and milk. Considering the frequency of contamination of these foods with mycotoxins, this study aimed to evaluate the risk of exposure to aflatoxins, ochratoxin A, deoxynivalenol and zearalenone in a Portuguese population under 17 years old through the consumption of these foods. To assess mycotoxin exposure, food contamination data was provided by the Official National Plan to Control Food and the food consumption information from the National Food, Nutrition, and Physical Activity Survey of the Portuguese General Population (2015-2016); risk assessment calculations were performed through the Monte Carlo probabilistic method.