WHO says!

Here's something to mull over. The World Health Organization openly says the world needs food security and food safety. Food safety plays a huge role in nutrition, improved health, functionality and economic status in the international population, especially in countries where grains, nuts, spices, milk, and meat are the primary food sources and primary exports. The potential for these countries to physically and economically thrive unfortunately relies on the weather and quantity of food that becomes contaminated. In any given year a food source could devastate hundreds of people and reduce much needed income for a country.

The number of people exposed to aflatoxin contaminated food in developing countries is daunting - 5 billion. Yes, BILLION! There are many practices in agriculture that can prevent aflatoxin occurrence, however, there are certain natural incidents that are uncontrollable - amount of insect infestation, severe weather, temperature changes, soil content, humidity and conditions for crop drying.

Much evidence shows chronic aflatoxin exposure may lead to impaired immunity, reduction of nutrient absorption, and decreased growth in humans and animals, and have a negative influence in people with malaria and HIV/AIDS. Also, aflatoxin may heighten susceptibility to a larger number of diseases.

Unfortunately, there are no standard international regulations to the content of toxins in crops, but there are procedures starting with preharvest that should be followed to keep levels low. Any programs to prevent and raise awareness of toxicity in crops should be available to all farmers, too. This always takes time and money, but in the long run will decrease the prevalence of aflatoxin poisoning in humans and animals.

If you'd like more to read on mycotoxins in our food, just look on the WHO (World Health Organization) website:

Mycotoxins in Food

Heightened Awareness

Pathogens are anything capable of producing disease - like fungi, bacteria, virus and other microbials. The popular cause of disease in the last few decades have been the viral and bacterial diseases, but like anything, the tables are turning more and more towards extensive fungal disease. According to Dr. Brian Shaw, Texas AgriLife Research plant pathologist, "some 70 percent of the major disease-causing organisms are fungi."

In the past few years focus has increased toward understanding fungi and their relationship to disease in humans, agriculture and the environment. Fungal disease is prevalent in humans either in a minor form, such as a toenail infection, or can become a potentially life-threatening, systemic infection. Our nations farmers have fought for hundreds of years to eradicate fungal disease and it's effects from their crops. In some areas of the world crop destruction by fungal disease has caused huge economic devastation.

This topic has warranted enough attention for the American Academy of Microbiology to suggest reports on the following:

"Evaluate the Impacts of Mold in Homes and Businesses

There is a serious lack of scientific data to support any stance with respect to indoor mold toxicity or remediation. More effort should be devoted to testing and long-term monitoring of mold contamination and human health in New Orleans and other areas flooded by Hurricane Katrina. Natural disasters like Hurricane Katrina provide natural laboratories for understanding how fungi respond to disturbance and the subsequent impacts they have on human health.

Create a Fungal Genomes Database

Researchers involved with fungi must focus efforts on developing a comprehensive fungal genomics database in order to make the vast quantities of sequence data more available and to enable the field to fully capitalize on the promise of genomics.

Report and Track Fungal Infections

Public health agencies should implement formal programs to report cases, track disease progress, and design interventions in outbreaks of fungal disease. The lack of reporting and tracking systems has made it difficult to control the spread of fungal pathogens, because good epidemiological data on the scope of infection is usually not available."

American Society for Microbiology (2008, July 3). Fungi The Cause Of Many Outbreaks Of Disease, But Mostly Ignored. ScienceDaily.