Occurrence of fumonisins B1, B2 and B3 in breakfast and infant cereals from Morocco

A total of 68 cereal products (48 breakfast cereals and 20 infant cereals) were collected from supermarkets and pharmacies in the Rabat-Salé area of Morocco and the content of fumonisins (FB1, FB2 and FB3) was analysed. Samples were extracted with a mixture of acetonitrile/water (85/15, v/v) by using an ultra-turrax homogenizer. Mycotoxins were then identified and quantified by liquid chromatography/tandem mass spectrometry. Results showed that fumonisins were detected in 20 samples (18 breakfast cereals and 2 infant cereals) with a frequency of contamination of 29.4% of total samples. The most contaminated products were cornflakes (maize) and breakfast cereals (rice, maize and cacao) with 10 and 4 positive samples respectively. The highest value was found in a breakfast cereal with 228 μg kg-1 of total fumonisins.