Aflatoxins in edible mushrooms

[Micaela Notarangelo]

I am a lactation consultant in Italy and I would need information on the risks of exposure of a breastfeeding mother to aflatoxins by eating edible mushrooms, both cultivated ones such as agaricus bisporus and wild ones such as boletus edulis. Of course the hypothesis is that the mushrooms are fresh (or dried) and correctly preserved. Here, both cultivated and wild mushrooms are a common food in this season.

Is there a reason to suspect that well preserved mushrooms could contain an especially elevated quantity of aflatoxins such that a breastfeeding women should avoid eating them because of the risk to the breastfed infant?

Or should recommendations just point in the direction of correctly preserve food and avoid mycotoxins from mold in general?

I could not find specific information on aflatoxins breastfeeding exposure risks trhough mushrooms, hope the question is not too far out of the way for you.

Thank you in advance.
MN

[admin-james]

Hi, thanks for your post.

Our expertise on this subject is limited and I'm afraid I can only give you part of the answer. The handful of studies on aflatoxins in breastmilk have shown that ingested toxin does appear in the breastmilk and does so far more often in developing countries than in the first world. The European Union has set an acceptable limit of aflatoxin in breastmilk of 25 ng/L. There are no studies which tell us exactly how much you have to eat in order to exceed that level. My impression from reading the literature is that it would take a significant deviation from the "typical" European diet. However, the food might not be obviously contaminated or produce any symptoms in the mother. Clinically relevant aflatoxin levels in the breastmilk as a result of eating wild or improperly preserved mushrooms seems plausible, but I cannot tell you how big the risk is.

For more information on how much exposure is possible from mushrooms, I suggest you consult an institution focused on agricultural science.

-James Abbey, MD