The scary thing about aflatoxin

What exactly is aflatoxin? Why is it called the death fungus of the mold world?

We will not forget the professional ones, but simply remember that aflatoxin is a substance (extremely carcinogenic) produced mainly by Aflatoxin and Aspergillus parasiticus (two types of mold).

Mycotoxins are the most toxic type of mycotoxins and are extremely harmful to health.

Aflatoxin file:

Toxicity level: ★★★★★ ★★★★★ (five pills full score)

Main metabolic organ: Liver

Compared with arsenic: 68 times more toxic than arsenic

Whether it can be removed by cooking at high temperature:No (it is high temperature resistant and cannot be removed by home cooking)

Carcinogenicity: It is the most carcinogenic chemical substance currently known

Acute poisoning:

Ingesting a large dose of aflatoxin in a short period of time can cause acute poisoning. The main changes are in the liver, showing acute hepatitis, hemorrhagic necrosis, hepatocellular fatty degeneration and bile ducts. hyperplasia. There were also mild lesions in the spleen and pancreas.

Chronic poisoning:

Long-term intake of small doses of aflatoxin can cause chronic poisoning. The main change characteristic is chronic damage to the liver, such as liver parenchymal cell degeneration, cirrhosis, etc. A series of symptoms such as stunted growth and development of animals, weight loss, infertility of female animals or fewer litters appear.

Carcinogenic characteristics:

A has a wide range of carcinogens and can induce experimental tumors in fish, poultry, various experimental animals, livestock and primates;

B is highly carcinogenic, and its carcinogenic potential is 10,000 times greater than that of hexachlorocyclohexane;

C can induce a variety of cancers, mainly liver cancer, as well as gastric cancer, kidney cancer, lacrimal gland cancer, rectal cancer, breast cancer, ovarian and small intestine tumors, and teratogenesis.

Scientist introduction: Aflatoxin has strong carcinogenic power. It only requires a dose of 1 mg/kg to induce liver cancer, bone cancer, kidney cancer, rectal cancer, breast cancer, ovarian cancer and other various organs in the body. cancer. You should know that 1 mg/kg of aflatoxin content is equivalent to only one aflatoxin the size of a sesame seed in 1 ton of grain.

(Acute poisoning, chronic poisoning, carcinogenic characteristics, introduced by scientists, quoted from Baidu Encyclopedia and Xinhuanet)

Exhibition of cases of aflatoxin causing cancer in humans:

In 1974, an outbreak of aflatoxin poisoning occurred in 200 villages in two Indian states.Sexual hepatitis, 397 people became ill and 106 died. All the poisoning patients had eaten moldy corn, and the aflatoxin content in it was as high as 6.25-15.6 mg/kg.

American scientist Douglas L reported that in 1989, 74 people in India and 12 people in Kenya died of acute aflatoxin poisoning. In 2004, an outbreak of aflatoxin-induced hepatitis occurred in eastern Kenya, killing 125 people. The deceased had all eaten moldy corn.

my country is a country with a high incidence of liver cancer, especially in the southeastern coastal areas. Mainly because the hot and humid environment in coastal areas is a breeding ground for the growth of aflatoxin.

Foods that are prone to produce aflatoxin

Once the following substances become moldy, they are likely to produce aflatoxin, and their content is higher than that of ordinary foods

Moldy grains:Peanuts, corn, rice, cottonseed and beans, etc.

Bitter dried fruits: Walnuts, almonds, hazelnuts, etc. Do you sometimes get bitter fruits when you eat peanuts or something like that? I vomited it quickly. The bitterness of the dried fruit means the presence of aflatoxin

Oils with poor raw materials:Peanut oil, corn oil

Pickled products and others: Dairy products (caused by feed containing aflatoxin), dried salted fish, dried shrimps, dried chili peppers, dried radish strips, etc.

The aflatoxin content risks of all the above products are used in raw materials. Aflatoxin will not disappear due to any processing or form change. It is emphasized again that aflatoxin in raw materials will continue to exist in the products. ! ~

Foods most likely to produce aflatoxin: peanuts, corn, and their products

Analysis of the reasons why dog ​​food is susceptible to aflatoxin contamination

① Reasons for raw materials

Select feed-grade raw materials to make dog food.

In fact, feed-grade raw materials are the main raw materials of domestic dog food. Let us first compare the price gap between human food grade raw materials and feed grade raw materials.

Corn flour price comparison per ton

Human use is 3500 per ton, the superior feed grade is only 1460 per ton, the inferior grade is only more than 600, and the low grade is only more than 100... More than 100 per ton is What concept? 8 cents per pound... I hope low-grade and inferior corn flour ingredients will not be used in dog food... Otherwise, I really don’t know how many dogs are consuming chronic poisons with high aflatoxin content every day...

ChickenMeat meal price comparison per ton

Human food grade chicken meal costs 75,000 per ton, while feed grade chicken meal only costs over 5,000 per ton, which is only a fraction of the price of human food ingredients.

Beef meal and mutton meal prices per ton

This domestically produced product is only feed grade. After searching for a long time, I couldn’t find pure meat meal of human grade. They are all beef essence powder and seasoned soup meat powder... which are used for seasoning and are said to be extracts from meat.

Feed gradeMutton meal is 2,700 yuan per ton, beef meal is 7,000 yuanper ton... I really want to sigh, it is so cheap... However, feed grade is not recommended for parents who raise dogs. Just use it, unless you think your dog is in good health and lives too long.

Why are feed grade raw materials more likely to carry high levels of aflatoxins and other molds?

First of all, feed grade raw materials are those that have been eliminated from the original human raw materials, or have been left for too long and become moldy, or are leftovers after human food processing. You can’t expect the leftovers to be properly stored, and the time is stretched again, and moisture may need to be added during processing, etc., which creates an environment susceptible to infection by mold.

This is not only true for grain-free raw materials, but also for feed-grade meat powder.

Take the final feed-grade mutton meal as an example, it costs 2,700 yuan per ton, which is only 1.35 yuan per pound. We all know the price of fresh mutton. It takes nearly 5 kilograms of meat to get 21 kilograms of pure dry meat.

② Reasons for storage

Many parents do not pay attention to the storage condition of dog food after opening, thinking that there are artificial or natural preservatives in it, so there is no need to worry about eating it for two or three months.

The fact is that unless the chemical preservatives exceed the standard by N times, like some "mooncakes" that remain intact for five or ten years, normal levels of chemical preservatives cannot resist mold for too long. Especially now that dog food is claimed to be natural dog food and does not contain artificial preservatives, its true anti-mildew ability is extremely low.

In this regard, Ping An Ma conducted an experiment last year. After grinding mint leaf powder, which has antibacterial and antioxidant natural antiseptic capabilities, and rosemary in jars for more than half a year (in the hot and humid environment of the South), both The "natural preservative" used to protect others has turned discolored, caked, and moldy...

The proportion of natural preservatives in dog food is naturally not high. After all, it is food and not preservatives~

This resulted in some dog food becoming moldy if it was not eaten in time after opening and was not stored carefully.Produces a lot of aflatoxin, which is the real poison in dog food.

Not to mention chronic carcinogens, there are several examples of acute poisoning in Ping An Mama’s WeChat circle. There are liver problems and kidney problems. Some have been rescued and some have already...

So parents who don’t want to continue poisoning their children should pay attention to keeping dog food~

It needs to be consumed within one month after opening. Dog food is generally divided into several packages of dog food, and not all dog parents buy large packages. I think if a pack weighs 30 kilograms, medium and large dogs such as golden retrievers can just eat it in a month, but wouldn't a Teddy dog ​​be able to eat it in a year?

So when buying dog food, choose it according to your dog’s appetite. Try to buy a package size that can be consumed within a month.

And pay attention to storage after opening. You can buy a dog food bucket with a [seal ring] to help preserve it. In this way, the dog food is exposed to the air only for the few minutes it takes to scoop the dog food every day, which reduces the time of contact with air moisture, which naturally helps to reduce the degree of mildew.

Meat meal costs 1.35 yuan per pound, but the fresh mutton raw material only costs a few cents per pound? Do you still expect fresh and healthy meat that costs a few cents per pound?

How to avoid aflatoxin as much as possible

① Eat it as soon as possible after opening. If it is left for too long or becomes damp and deteriorates, it is better to throw it away than continue to feed it

② Choose a dog food bucket with a sealing ring specifically for storing opened dog food

③ Eat one bag and open one bag to avoid opening multiple bags at the same time and not finishing them for several months

④ Keep dog food indoors, not outdoors. Outdoor sunlight or rainy days can easily cause dog food to deteriorate

⑤ Don’t buy fakes. The raw materials of fakes are made of whichever is cheaper. It is inevitable that people who specialize in mold will eliminate the unusable feed-grade raw materials

⑥ If economic conditions permit, try to choose good and reliable dog food, and try to choose big brands.

⑦ Try to choose dog food that states “human grade ingredients” as raw materials

⑧ Try to avoid using dog food that is full of meat powder in the raw materials list, and give priority to dog food that uses fresh meat as raw materials

⑨ If economic conditions permit, try to avoid dog food containing corn (one of the two foods most likely to produce aflatoxin)

⑩ During the rainy season, especially the rainy season and high temperature season in the south, you need to pay special attention to maintaining dog food