Aflatoxin Control. Safeguarding Animal Feed with Calcium Smectite

"Aflatoxin contamination represents a serious threat to a healthy food supply. Resulting from mold on corn, peanuts, and other grains and grain products, aflatoxins are extremly toxic. Understanding the nature of fungi infection and the factors that favor aflatoxin formation is important to grain producers, dealers, and other professionals who control grain from the field to the site of consumption to prevent serious loss of large quantities of grain or grain products. Producers of poultry, cattle, sheep, pigs, and even pet food need to be aware of the threat of aflatoxin. Participants in the grain industry who grow, store, or process corn and other grains subject to potential infection by aflatoxin should be aware of the risks of fungal infection and aflatoxin contamination, and proper management strategies. The authors focus on the binding of aflatoxin in animal feeds by employing calcium smectite. Readers will be especially glad to know that aflatoxin can often be controlled with a natural mineral material to bind aflatoxin in animal feeds at a modest cost."

Joe B. Dixon is an emeritus professor of soil science at Texas A&M University, specializing in soil clay mineralogy.

Ana L. Barrientos Velázquez is a post-doctoral researcher at Texas A&M.

Youjun Deng is an associate professor of soil science at Texas A&M University.