Natural occurrence of deoxynivalenol in wheat, wheat flour and bakery products in Argentina.

The objective of this study was to evaluate the natural occurrence of deoxynivalenol (DON) in wheat, wheat flour and different kinds of breads and pastries widely consumed by the population in Argentina. Of 60 wheat samples analysed 93.3% were contaminated. The average DON contamination level over all samples was 1798 μg/kg, and the minimum and maximum values were 100 μg/kg and 9250 μg/kg, respectively. The wheat flour samples (61 samples) were contaminated with DON at levels ranging from 250 μg/kg to 9000 μg/kg with an average of 1309 μg/kg. The frequency of DON contamination over 42 samples of different bakery products was 92.8%, with levels ranging from 200 μg/kg to 2800 μg/kg with an average of 464 μg/kg. These results suggest a high risk for consumers of wheat products and the need to monitor final products before consumption.