April 1998 Volume IV, No. 1REGULATORY ISSUES W.F.O. MARASAS suggested in his presentation at the 5th International Fusarium Seminar that a tolerance level of 100 to 200 µg/kg for fumonisins in corn should safeguard human health in South Africa and should be technologically possible. However, more work remains to be done to establish scientifically sound and economically reasonable tolerance levels for fumonisin in corn (Cereal Research Communication, 1997, vol. 25, n.3/1, 399-406). No other country, beside Switzerland (1 mg/kg FB1+FB2), has regulated fumonisins in corn for human consumption, and it is unlikely that any action will be taken before the results of the NTCR studies are released. If additional limits/maximum tolerated levels/tolerance values are recommended, it is unlikely that they will be less than 1 mg/kg or greater than 5 mg/kg, although lower limits would be appropriate for countries where consumption of corn products represents a large part of the population's diet. |