Risk management and occurrence on deoxynivalenol in wheat and barley in Japan

Abstract

  Fusarium head blight (FHB) is inevitable because climate in Japan is warm and humid, and wheat and barley grains are contaminated with mycotoxins such as deoxynivalenol (DON) which are produced by pathogen of FHB. For the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries (MAFF) responsible for the stable supply of safe and quality food, risk management on mycotoxins in wheat and barley is an important issue. MAFF has established guidelines which recommend pathogen control in optimum timing with effective pesticides, harvesting in proper time, thorough drying and sorting, etc., for reduction of mycotoxin contamination in wheat and barley during the production stage and is promoting implementation of the guidelines.

  The results of surveillance on mycotoxins in domestic wheat and barley showed that there is a remarkable annual variation of DON concentration in grains according to the outbreak of FHB and that health risk of preschool children from DON exposure is not negligible. As there is a possibility that the occurrence of FHB may increase result from the effect of climate change, etc., it is necessary to take continual surveillance and thorough reduction measures.