Exposure of infants to fumonisins in maize-based complementary foods in rural Tanzania

✍ Scribed by Martin E. Kimanya; Bruno De Meulenaer; Katleen Baert; Bendantunguka Tiisekwa; John Van Camp; Simbarashe Samapundo; Carl Lachat; Patrick Kolsteren

• Publisher: John Wiley and Sons
• Year: 2009
• Tongue: English
• Weight: 357 KB
• Volume: 53
• Category: Article
• ISSN: 1613-4125
• DOI: 10.1002/mnfr.200700488

✦ Synopsis

Abstract

Feeding children with maize may expose them to fumonisins (FBs). This study assessed FB exposure for infants consuming maize in Tanzania by modeling maize consumption data (kg/kg body weight (bw)/day) with previously collected total FB contamination (μg/kg) patterns for sorted and unsorted maize harvested in 2005 and 2006. Consumption was estimated by twice conducting a 24 h dietary recall for 254 infants. The exposure assessment was performed with the @RISK analysis software. Of the infants, 89% consumed maize from 2.37 to 158 g/person/day (mean; 43 g/person/day ± 28). Based on the contamination for sorted maize; in 2005, the percentage of infants with FB exposures above the provisional maximum tolerable daily intake (PMTDI) of 2 μg/kg (bw) (26% (95% confidence interval (CI); 23–30)) was significantly higher than the level of 3% (90% CI; 2–12) in 2006. Pooling the datasets for sorted maize from the two seasons resulted in a seemingly more representative risk (10% (95% CI; 6–17)) of exceeding the PMTDI. However, infants who might have consumed unsorted maize would still be at a significantly higher risk (24% (95% CI; 15–34)) of exceeding the PMTDI. Sorting and other good maize management practices should be advocated to farmers in order to minimize FB exposure in rural areas.