Livingstone, Zambia. 26 - 28 May 2015

1. www.iita.orgA member of CGIAR consortium
Incidence of aflatoxin contamination in
locally processed complementary and
weaning foods for infants in Eastern
Province of Zambia
Akello Juliet IITA-Zambia
Bandyopadhyay Ranajit IITA-Nigeria
Mukanga Mweshi ZARI-Zambia
Njapau Henry NISIR-Zambia
1st African Symposium on Mycotoxicology 26th-28th
May 2015, Livingstone

2. Child nutrition status in Africa
Majority of the world’s malnourished
children are in Africa: 36% stunted;
29% underweight; 28% wasted
Rate of under-five stunting
Zambian children:
25% are underweight
43.0% are stunted
4% are wasted
One third of deaths in children
under five years of age are due
to underlying under-nutrition
Only 36% stunting is attributed to diet & 64% is due to
other factors (Lunn et al., 1992; Bhutta et al. 2013)

3. In Africa, the main foods available for feeding infants include:
 Cereals & tubers crops: maize meal, rice
 Legumes: groundnuts, beans
 Animal products: fish, milk, eggs
 Fruits & vegetables: bananas, oranges, pawpaw, carrots,
pumpkins, green vegetables
 Commercially processed foods
Child’s food was
determined by:
availability in the
household, cost of
food & seasonality
The readily available diets have low nutritive value & associated with
high prevalence of mycotoxin contaminants
Complementary/weaning foods
Lalude & Fashakin 2006; Owino et al. 2008; Wild & Gong 2010; Temesgen, 2013; Wakil & Kazeem, 2012

4. Common fungal infections
 Cereals (maize): Fusarium, Diplodia & Aspergillus
• Fumonisins
• Deoxynivaleonol
• Zearalenone
• Ochratoxin A
• Aflatoxins
 Legumes (gnuts): Aspergillus spp
• Aflatoxins
 Tuber crops
Aflatoxins & complementary foods
Mycotoxins in foods: threat to proper growth

5. Aflatoxins & child exposure
In early childhood: exposure typically increases when
complementary foods are introduced, especially in
regions where maize and groundnuts are dietary
staples (Khlangwiset et al., 2011; Gong et al., 2012; Adejumo et al.,
2013; Turner, 2013).
Children may be exposed via breastfeeding: High
levels of AF detected in breast milk samples (Lamplugh
et al. 1988; Jonsyn et al. 1995; 4. Wild et al. 1991; Jonsyn et al.
1995; Tchana et al. 2010)
Utero exposure: detectable levels of AF in cord blood
samples (Wild et al. 1992; Gong et al. ).

6. www.iita.orgA member of CGIAR consortium
However, scanty information are available on the quality of commercially or
locally processed complementary or weaning foods that are used in Zambia.
This study aimed at:
i) assessing the type of local foods used in complementary and weaning
diets of infants in EP of Zambia
ii) quantifying the level of aflatoxin in local complementary/ weaning foods
iii) determining the effect of local food preparation techniques on aflatoxin
level
Aflatoxins & complementary foods

7. Methodology
200 mothers with under
5 children interviewed
Cooked samples
porridge/ nshima
200 flour samples
Aflatoxin analysis: raw samples
Processed commodities
Chipata, Petauke, Nyimba,
Mambwe & Lundazi
• Type and source of food
• Method of food preparation
• Quantity of food served/ child
• Age/ weight of child
• Marital & educational status of
the mothers
• Mother’s knowledge about
aflatoxins

8.  96% of the mothers give complementary foods to the under 5 children
 66% of mothers start the feeding program at 6 months post delivery
Type of supplementary food given to children below five years
Results: complementary feeding

9. Source of complementary foods given to
children below 5 years of age
Results: complementary feeding
This calls for the development and
deployment of aflatoxin mitigation
technologies that would protect the
produce right at the grass root level

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Results: complementary feeding
Average quantity of complementary food & frequency served/ child

11. Results: Aflatoxin levels
Table: Mean aflatoxin levels in raw complementary food samples
Crop District Aflatoxin level (ppb)
Mean Range
Groundnut Chipata 176.5 ab 0.4-3405
Lundazi 60.4 b 0.0-310
Mambwe 497.2 a 1.1-5200
Petauke 147.3 ab 1.7-775
Nyimba 76.0 b 1.4-376
Maize Chipata 13.0 bc 0.7-109
Lundazi 1.6 c 0.0-11
Mambwe 156.3 a 16-255
Petauke 17.5 bc 0.1-106
Nyimba 37.3 b 0.0-81
99% of groundnut & 93% of maize four samples tested +ve for aflatoxins

12. Results: Aflatoxin levels
Cooking had minimal effect on aflatoxins in highly contaminated foods
ns
ns
Zambian children may be at high risk of developing aflatoxin related diseases

13. Level of awareness: aflatoxins
Majority of mothers are not aware about aflatoxin contamination
The fact that more than half of the women do not know about this killer
toxin suggest a grave need for all stakeholders to increase awareness
campaigns for the sensitization of the public

14. Summary
“What matters to me is people. …… I want us to be judged by the impact we have
on the health of the people of Africa, and the health of women.….Our work must
touch the lives of everyone, everywhere…. … But we must focus our attention on
the people in greatest need.”
Dr. Margaret Chan, In-coming WHO Director General, November 2006
 Maize & groundnut constitute the main readily available source of complementary
foods in Eastern Province of Zambia
 Maize and groundnut commodities that are produced & marketed in EP are
contaminated by aflatoxins that can’t be degraded by heat
 Thus, Zambian children may be at high risk of aflatoxin exposure through diets
 There is need for awareness campaigns and pre- & post-harvest control measures

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Acknowledgement