EUROPE: MYCOTOXIN CONTAMINATION IN ANIMAL FEED

By Gundhramns Hammer
June 13, 2013

Aspergillus conidiophore and spores. Source: IFT.

They invade domestic animals through their feed. Then they are transmitted to you when you eat the products derived from livestock. They anchor and bind in your body silently. And they accumulate in your body until you cannot stand them anymore and succumb to cancer.

These invaders are called Mycotoxins. They are natural chemicals produced by fungi as secondary metabolites and are amongst the most potent carcinogens known to man. 

Amongst the 300-400 known mycotoxins, European Union sanitary authorities monitor chiefly five in our foods: Aflatoxins, zearalenone, fumonisins, ochratoxin A and deoxynivalenol (Fig. 1).  

Figure 1. Chemical structure of mycotoxins found in foods and animal feed. Source: IFT.

When you eat a slice of cheese, drink a glass of milk or eat a pork chop from an intensive animal exploitation, you are really consuming deadly stuff, for animal factories are not only cruel but also highly dangerous to our health. 

These concentration camps require huge quantities of animal feed which are normally contaminated with mycotoxins. 

All it takes is ca. 12-15% moisture and warm temperatures in the raw materials for the fungi to develop and produce these secondary metabolites, which are released into the substrate to protect themselves from invasion by surrounding bacteria. 

In other words, raw materials and animal feed are a perfect breeding medium for the development of toxicogenic fungi.

Thus, the more you consume animal derived foods, the more you become exposed to these dangerous fungal carcinogens. 

But this is no the end of the problem. Even a loaf of bread may contain these potent killer chemicals. The longer are kept in storage the grains and cereals we use to elaborate bread and other flour consumer goods, the more they are exposed to becoming contaminated with these fungal metabolites, which in turn means a higher potential for consumers to ingest these mycotoxins.

With the globalisation, you may end up eating wheat that was produced on the other side of the world and it may be possible that the cereals that were destined for animals may end up in your shoping cart in the shape of a loaf of bread. 

Remember, business is business and the whole goal of these global agricultural and food enterprises is to make money and often at the expense of our health.

Just to give an idea of this health problem. Bread samples obtained from different bakeries and supermarkets in Valencia, Spain, for instance, contained ochratoxin A (OTA). An incidence of OTA varied between 20.3 and 23.0% for non-organic and organic bread, respectively (González-Osnaya et al., 2007).

To give you an good grip of the situation of mycotoxin contamination in animal feed throughout Europe, we recommend you to read the following scientific study whose abstract we cite below:

CURRENT SITUATION OF MYCOTOXIN CONTAMINATION AND CO-OCCURRENCE IN ANIMAL FEED—FOCUS ON EUROPE 

By Elisabeth Streit (1), Gerd Schatzmayr (1,*), Panagiotis Tassis (2), Eleni Tzika (2), Daniela Marin (3),
Ionelia Taranu (3), Cristina Tabuc (3), Anca Nicolau (4), Iuliana Aprodu (4), Olivier Puel (5) and
Isabelle P. Oswald (5,6)

Abstract: Mycotoxins are secondary metabolites produced by fungi especially those belonging to the genus Aspergillus, Penicillum and Fusarium. Mycotoxin contamination can occur in all agricultural commodities in the field and/or during storage, if conditions are favourable to fungal growth. Regarding animal feed, five mycotoxins (aflatoxins, deoxynivalenol, zearalenone, fumonisins and ochratoxin A) are covered by EU legislation (regulation or recommendation). Transgressions of these limits are rarely observed in official monitoring programs. However, low level contamination by Fusarium toxins is very common (e.g., deoxynivalenol (DON) is typically found in more than 50% of the samples) and co-contamination is frequently observed. Multi-mycotoxin studies reported 75%–100% of the samples to contain more than one mycotoxin which could impact animal health at already low doses. Co-occurrence of mycotoxins is likely to arise for at least three different reasons (i) most fungi are able to simultaneously produce a number of mycotoxins, (ii) commodities can be contaminated by several fungi, and (iii) completed feed is made from various commodities. In the present paper, we reviewed the data published since 2004 concerning the contamination of animal feed with single or combinations of mycotoxins and highlighted the occurrence of these co-contaminations.

Toxins 2012, 4: 788-809. READ MORE... 

Humans crammed and piled up in a sheeple coop


The convenience of modern living has its advantages and it is highly addictive. But living crammed and piled up in the cities also has its disadvantages. 

One is that our health is basically in the hands of a few global businessmen who could care less should you get sick unless you can prove that they are the culprits. 

We are at their mercy and it is entirely our fault, for we are addicted to food and are constantly searching for amusement and sex in the metropolis. So the price for a slice of the party is too expensive.

Now it is too late to go back to a time when you had the reigns in your hands, well at least you were able to grow your own food until the king and his crew of parasites came along to reclaim your tax.

Sooner or later even planting your own vegetable garden will be forbidden or at least you will have the local authorities watching over you and making sure you have paid the high tax to grow one. For the world is moving towards a global sheeple (human sheep) coop.

So please God help us!!

References

Fink-Gremmels J. (Ed.) (2012). Animal Feed Contamination: Effects on Livestock and Food Safety. Woodhead Publishing Series in Food Science, Technology and Nutrition: Number 215. Woodhead Publishing Limited, Cambridge, UK. 672 p.

González-Osnaya L., Soriano J. M., Moltó J. C. & Mañes J. (2007). Dietary intake of ochratoxin A from conventional and organic bread. Intl. J. Food Microbiol., 118 (1): 87-91. 

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