With the rise in global trade in agri-commodities, food and feed safety hinge greatly on the ability to contain the spread of harmful substances like fungal toxins and preserve the quality of important nutritional sources.

The emergence of new classes of mycotoxins, such as Fusarium toxins and soluble plant metabolites of mycotoxins or “masked mycotoxins”, calls for ever more sophisticated determination methods. Professor Franz Berthiller of the Christian Doppler Laboratory for Mycotoxin Metabolism and Center for Analytical Chemistry at the Department for Agrobiotechnology IFA-Tulln will present an overview of the multiple methods of determination, with a focus on liquid chromatography–mass spectrometry (LC-MS), the most sensitive and potentially most accurate mycotoxin determination method to date.

Alongside the threat of emerging mycotoxins, a growing concern is the chronic exposure of animals to low levels of in-feed contamination. Dr Betrand Grenier of Purdue University and the BIOMIN Research Center in Tulln will share compelling research showing how even low doses of mycotoxins can increase animals’ susceptibility to diseases, in particular, through the effects of mycotoxins on the gut and subsequent inhibition of immune responses.

Putting the spotlight on deoxynivalenol (DON, vomitoxin) and Fusarium toxins are Professor James Pestka of the Center for Integrative Toxicology at Michigan State University and Dr Siska Croubels of the Department of Pharmacology, Toxicology and Biochemistry at Ghent University.

Triggered by the Fusarium head blight during cereal growth, DON and its congeners are a highly perplexing class of fungal toxins. As its name suggests, DON or vomitoxin induces vomiting, anorexic tendencies and feed refusal in animals.

Professor Pestka will highlight recent findings on the effects on the DON at the hormonal level, specifically through a mechanism of the enteroendocrine cell hormones that induces satiety in the gastrointestinal tract.

Dr Croubels will address the impact of Fusarium mycotoxins on poultry gut health by exploring the effects on the intestinal morphology and the barrier function.

The mycotoxin expert panel discussion will be held on 17 October 2014 and chaired by Dr Gerd Schatzmayr, global research director of BIOMIN.

The World Nutrition Forum is a premier scientific event organized by BIOMIN, a world leader in mycotoxin risk management and research. The sixth World Nutrition Forum will take place from 15 to 18 October 2014, in Munich, Germany.