Application of an LC–MS/MS based multi-mycotoxin method for the semi-quantitative determination of mycotoxins occurring in different types of food infected by moulds

An existing LC–MS/MS method for multi-mycotoxin determination was extended by further 19 analytes and was applied for a semi-quantitative screening of 87 mouldy food samples from private households, including bread, fruits, vegetables, cheeses, nuts and jam. In the 247 investigated sub-samples, 49 different analytes were identified, some of which were never reported before to occur in naturally contaminated food. Enniatins and ergot alkaloids occurred in all samples of (dark) bread/pastries at low μg/kg-levels. From the remaining analytes, chanoclavine, emodin, mycophenolic acid and roquefortine C were found most frequently. Regulated mycotoxins occurred less often, but the corresponding concentrations exceeded the regulatory limits up to a factor of 1000 in case of patulin. Moreover, considerable mycotoxin concentrations were observed in some sub-samples taken from non-mouldy spots of the investigated samples. Thus, it was concluded that it is not safe to remove the mouldy part and consume the remainder.