Italian Pasta Maker Charged

ROME - Jan 11/06 - SNS -- Italian police in Bari arrested Francesco Casillo, owner of Molino Casillo Italy -- Europe's biggest pasta mill, on charges of attempted to sell 58,000 metric tons (MT) of durum wheat which contains excess levels of a cancer-producing toxin.

He is charged with trying to sell the wheat for use in both human and animal consumption markets by blending it with uncontaminated grain.

The wheat comes from a shipload of Canadian durum which was seized by authorities in Bari last year because it contained more than three times the allowed level of ochratoxin.

Ochratoxin A is the most important and most commonly occurring of a structurally related group of compounds, and is often abbreviated to OTA or OA. It is produced by some species of Aspergillus, such as A. ochraceus, mainly in tropical regions and by Penicillium verrucosum, a common storage fungus in temperate areas such as Canada, eastern and north western Europe and parts of South America.

The toxin mainly affects the kidneys, in which it can cause both acute and chronic lesions, whereas its dechloro derivative, ochratoxin B, is non-toxic. A nephrotoxic effect has been demonstrated in all mammalian species.

Ochratoxin A is a potent teratogen in mice, rats, hamsters and chickens, but not apparently in pigs when fed to sows during early pregnancy. Both teratogenic and reproductive effects have been demonstrated. It is known to affect the immune system in a number of mammalian species.

Ochratoxin A was first reported as a natural contaminant of cereals in a sample of corn. Concentrations found are usually below 50 µg/kg but when products are stored badly much higher concentrations can develop. In temperate regions a significant proportion of cereal samples may be contaminated with very small amounts below 1 µg/kg although a few may contain much higher levels.

Many surveys for ochratoxin A in cereals have been carried out but in recent years it has been found in a wide range of other stored products and processed foods including coffee, beer, dried fruit, wine, cocoa and nuts.

Many experiments have been carried out in laboratory culture to identify the optimum conditions for the formation of ochratoxin A by Aspergillus ochraceus and Penicillium verrucosum. However, under field conditions it is often formed in cereals under conditions marginal for the formation of the fungi and this aspect has only recently been addressed, but is vital for understanding how its formation can be avoided.

Ochratoxin A is a moderately stable molecule that will survive most food processing to some extent and may thus occur in consumer products. Processing may involve boiling, baking, roasting or fermentation, and the degree to which it is destroyed will further depend on other parameters such as pH, temperature and the other ingredients present.

A number of these processes have been examined in detail although much remains to be done. Literature reports have reviewed its fate during malting and brewing, bread making, the processing of cereals into breakfast cereals, production of coffee products, animal feed production and its carry over into meat products. In biological systems, it will bind to serum albumin.

Because of its persistence through the food chain, current research is concentrated on its prevention. HACCP-like approaches are being developed for application to a number of commercial processes.

Risk assessments have been carried out in Canada and in Scandinavia, and by JECFA. The presence of ochratoxin A in foodstuffs is clearly undesirable, and the EU has recently proposed statutory maximum limits for ochratoxin A of 5 µg/kg in raw cereal grains including rice and buckwheat, 3 µg/kg for derived cereal products or for cereal grains for direct human consumption, and 10 µg/kg in dried vine fruits. Limits for other products are being considered.