Improved and Innovative Actions for Mycotoxin Management in the Food and Feed Chain

Dear Colleagues,

Mycotoxins are one of the most relevant threats to human and animal health, and in most regions there is still a high risk of mycotoxin contamination. The globalization of the trade in agricultural commodities and the lack of legislative harmonization have contributed significantly to the discussion about the awareness of mycotoxins entering the feed and food supply chain.

Mycotoxins are difficult to eliminate, and the challenge is to minimize their effects. There is a great deal of information available on how to manage and mitigate them, but no silver bullet is available to tackle mycotoxin threats. The mycotoxin problem demands an integrated approach using innovative and improved pre- and post-harvest strategic actions that address the entire food and feed chain: from field to industries, traders, national storage systems, regulators, and relevant agencies.

Improved and innovative actions for mycotoxin management in the food and feed chain are needed in order to answer to several open questions: what happens in the plant when a fungus (and toxin) is formed? Are genetic improvements to crops and biotechnology useful tools for reducing mycotoxin contamination in crops? What happens in storage? What happens during food and feed processing? What is the effect of climate change? Mycotoxins never come alone; can the co-occurrence of mycotoxins affect both the level of mycotoxin production and the toxicity of the contaminated material? What are the best ways to deal with “emerging mycotoxins” or “modified mycotoxins”? Finally, we need to develop quicker and on-site sampling and analytical methods.

The aim of this Issue is to provide an update on the improved and innovative actions for mycotoxin management in the food and feed chain. Original research articles and literature reviews concerning the topic of the Issue are welcome, including occurrence studies as well as economic and commodity trade analyses.

Prof. Federica Cheli
Guest Editor

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