Aflatoxins hazards and regulations impacts on Brazil nuts trade

Abstract

All rights reserved. Brazil nut is an important non-timber forest product produced in Amazon region. This nut is used as food with high value in the international market, due to its high nutritional and flavor characteristic and to their association with environmental conservation and alleviation of poor people living from Amazonia. Annually, several hundred tons of Brazil nuts are produced in Brazil. However, they are susceptible to aflatoxins (AF) contamination. Because of the detection of unacceptable level of AF in Brazil nuts consignments arriving in European Union ports, in 2003, special conditions were imposed on Brazil nuts entering the European Union, decreasing the acceptable levels of AF. In 2010, the European Union revised AF regulation on nuts; these new limits are more adequate when considering the complexity of Brazil nut chain and the low risk related to its low consumption. This chapter points data on the occurrence of AF in Brazil nuts, as reported by the Rapid Alert System for Food and Feed (RASFF), and evaluates the efforts made by all sectors involved in the agribusiness of Brazil nuts, in Brazil, in order to contribute to protection of both domestic and international consumers from possible health hazard caused by AF.