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Exposure of infants to fumonisins in maize‐based complementary foods in rural Tanzania
Author(s) -
Kimanya Martin E.,
Meulenaer Bruno De,
Baert Katleen,
Tiisekwa Bendantunguka,
Van Camp John,
Samapundo Simbarashe,
Lachat Carl,
Kolsteren Patrick
Publication year - 2009
Publication title -
molecular nutrition and food research
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.495
H-Index - 131
eISSN - 1613-4133
pISSN - 1613-4125
DOI - 10.1002/mnfr.200700488
Subject(s) - tanzania , tolerable daily intake , toxicology , zoology , confidence interval , environmental health , reference dose , medicine , biology , risk assessment , microbiology and biotechnology , body weight , geography , computer security , environmental planning , computer science
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.