Exposure to Aflatoxin B1 from Rice Consumption in the United Arab Emirates. (c2022)

Rice is one of the most consumed staple foods worldwide and a major part of the diet for half of the global population. Being primarily cultivated in countries with warm and humid environments increases rice's susceptibility for mycotoxins contamination, especially the hepatotoxic and carcinogenic aflatoxin B1 (AFB1). Our study aims to assess the levels of AFB1 in rice marketed in the United Arab Emirates and determine the estimated daily exposure level of the population for this carcinogenic metabolite and its associated liver cancer risk. All white, brown, and parboiled rice brands available in the retail markets in UAE were collected twice. Enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) method was used to perform the analysis. AFB1 was detected in 128 out of 128 rice samples (100%). The average contamination ± standard deviation of AFB1 was found to be 1.01±0.78 μg/kg, ranging from 0.18 to 4.69 μg/kg. The contamination level in all the samples was below the limit set by the Gulf Cooperation Council Standardization Organization (≤5 μg/kg), while 10 (7.8%) of the samples had a contamination level above the maximum limit set by the European Union (≥2 μg/kg). The moisture content in all the assessed samples was ≤14%. A borderline significance in the levels of AFB1 was found between brands having food safety management certification (0.99±0.84 μg/kg) and those that do not have it (1.53±0.69 μg/kg) (p-value=0.049). Furthermore, there was a significant difference in AFB1 between samples in both collections (p-value= 0.043). However, the rice type, grain size, packing season, packing country, country of origin, collection season, and the time between packing and purchasing had no significant effect on AFB1. The mean exposure level of the Emirati population to AFB1 from rice consumption was calculated as 2.93 ng/kg exceeding the Provisional Maximal Tolerable Daily Intake (1 ng/Kg), resulting in an expected 0.243 cases of liver cancer/100,000 person/year.