A survey of Aflatoxin M1 in some commercial milk samples and infant formula milk samples in Goa, India

Abstract

A survey of aflatoxin M1 (AFM1) contamination in packaged milk and infant formula milk samples in the Goan market, India, was conducted using high performance liquid chromatography, association of analytical communities approved commercial kit and a sensitive chemiluminescent sandwich enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA). A total of 72 samples of infant formula milk food (18) and packaged milk samples (54) was analysed. One hundred per cent of the analysed samples exceeded the European Communities recommended limits (50 ng/L) and 75% of the samples exceeded Codex Alimentarius, Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) and US Food and Drug Administration recommended limits (500 ng/L). The range of contamination of AFM1 was found lower in infant milk formula (501–713 ng/L) than liquid milk (511–809 ng/L). The methods were also compared for their performance, and ELISA was found to be most suitable for analysis of low-level AFM1 contamination in milk.