Gluten-free pasta, be careful if you give it to children: the mycotoxin levels are too high for them

A new study has highlighted several mycotoxins in gluten-free pasta. DON and nivalenol levels are risky for children

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People with celiac disease are forced to consume gluten-free pasta often made from cereals such as rice or corn. However, new research has found that “gluten free” pasta contains mycotoxins, in quantities that are not dangerous for adults but which can instead be harmful for children.

Celiac disease is an autoimmune disease characterized by inflammation of the intestinal mucosa due to the consumption of gluten-based products. Celiac people, to avoid problems and ailments, must inevitably eliminate gluten from their diet.

This is why it is essential for them to buy foods that, in the case of pasta and baked goods, are made from gluten-free cereals, in particular rice or corn.

The problem is that cereals can be contaminated with mycotoxins, such as fumonisins (FB) and aflatoxins (AF), a contamination that has been reported several times around the world.

But how frequent is it and for whom can it be more dangerous?

The new study, which is part of a research project of the International Doctorate in Nutraceuticals, Functional Foods and Human Health coordinated by Professor Alberto Ritieni, focused on 84 samples of dry pasta marketed in Campania and intended precisely for those who have eliminated gluten-based products from their diet.

The samples were collected from September to November 2020 with the aim of monitoring the presence of mycotoxins and consequently assessing the exposure to these food contaminants by consumers of different age groups.

Scientists evaluated the levels of 21 different mycotoxins. As we read in the study:

“A new analytical method has been developed and validated for the simultaneous analysis of 21 mycotoxins in gluten-free pasta, commonly consumed by the celiac population as an alternative to conventional pasta. (...) The mycotoxins included in this work were those widely reported in cereal samples, namely, ochratoxin-A (OTA), aflatoxins (AFB1, AFB2, AFG1 and AFG2), zearalenone (ZON), deoxynivalenol (DON), 3-acetyl-deoxynivalenol and 15-acetyl-deoxynivalenol (3-AcDON and 15-AcDON, respectively), nivalenol (NIV), neosolaniol (NEO), fusarenone-X, (FUS-X), T-2 toxin (T- 2) and HT -2 toxin (HT-2), fumonisin B1 and B2 (FB1 and FB2, respectively), enniatine (ENN A, ENN A1, ENN B and ENN B1) and beauvericin (BEA) ".

It thus emerged that a significant number of samples (as many as 95%) showed contamination by mycotoxins, the most common being the Fusarium mycotoxins (FB1, ZON and DON).

In 44% of cases there were 3 different mycotoxins at the same time while only 9% of the pasta samples contained one.

What are the risks? The study states that:

"Regarding the risk assessment, the highest exposures were obtained for NIV, DON and FB1 for the age group of children and adolescents which can be explained by their lower body weight ”.

In practice, children are at greater risk, as always, because of their smaller organism which less easily disposes of toxins and other foreign substances. In particular, the quantities found would be worrying for children in the 3-10 age group (assuming that even younger ones do not eat these foods, consuming pasta suitable for their age group).

There is no risk for adults, the doses are within the tolerable limits but for children instead, the amount of toxins found is higher than the TDI (Tolerable Daily Dose) for both DON and nivalenol (NIV).

The study was published in Toxins.

Source: Toxins