Dear all
As you may recall, in 2020 we hosted the MyToxSouth, or the Mycotoxin Working Group at the Lab. Mycotoxins occur generally when we find mold in our food and these toxins are really dangerous. We discovered them only recently (some at the University of the Western Cape) and if ingested they lead to lethargy and even cancer. This may explain why animals are listless and docile at times... maybe they ingested mycotoxins which are there even if there is only a small piece of mould in their food.
Luckily Mycotoxins can be avoided by the right practices. One of them is to never ever leave feed directly on the ground and always elevate it by, for instance, placing it on a pallet.
Deep storage clean and dry and please do some homework in understanding these toxins and how they affect the food chain and farming operations.
Please also note that we need your help in understanding this phenomenon. Our Friend Prof Sarah de Segar has asked me to post this notification of research being done on Mycotoxins.
I do hope the links in this PDF work, and please follow them. Your knowledge of your farming is key in us all understanding how to deal with this issue.
Please do send your survey back to ERMOLLI Monica <Monica.ERMOLLI@ec.europa.eu> once completed. Please note that the authors of this survey are responsible for the conduct and procedures within it.
Thank you very much. Please see the wording of this survey below and the links that I will add:
Sir, Madam,
As you know, mould and mycotoxin contamination have a major impact on human and animal health and remains an important source of food and feed losses in African countries. One of the main obstacles recognized in the research and adoption of solutions is the scarcity of information and knowledge on the issue. In particular, information at a territorial level provided by local populations involved in the food and feed production chain is limited albeit of fundamental importance for the definition of appropriate actions to contain contamination. The management of mycotoxin risk is influenced, among other factors, by the knowledge of the operator, the regulatory context, economic and geo-physical conditions, and all aspects that need to be investigated. To this end, we would like to request your cooperation to help build a better information and knowledge base on mycotoxins through the present survey.
Five questionnaires were prepared to cover different groups of food operators, namely:
- Food processors: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/1OceaPFXaNaicglP41loNGmZbzgDiYl7CiEvY_YR-ZWY/viewform?edit_requested=true
- Food scientists: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/1ZEZg9b4ylazIw51LUQYDeX3WCCCLLLUFUneduEjtHGo/viewform?edit_requested=true
- Food traders: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/1KtJU1C_LwHWjRkTuxvMP9PfUgibO7zlS3-MWIiXA7k4/viewform?edit_requested=true
- Food policy makers: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/1C2nToMbID7wZXYx2xgUrl5tzNk_IvNg8Qgf3Ky2Bl1Q/viewform?edit_requested=true
The results of the survey will be publicly available and will help better understand the local conditions of mycotoxin contamination and knowledge on Africa as a necessary pre-condition for effective action to be taken. This work is realised through a collaboration between the African Society of Mycotoxicology, the MycoKey and Mytox-South networks and the Joint Research Centre (JRC) of the EC.
As one of the prominent experts in the domain, we would appreciate if you could actively participate in the dissemination of the questionnaires through your own networks.
If you agree, feel free to disseminate the attached questionnaires to the persons you know who correspond to any of the five profiles here above. Kindly also fill and send back your own questionnaire corresponding to your profile by 30 May 2021 at the latest.
Looking forward to your support,
Best regards,
Monica Ermolli on behalf of the networks and of the JRC
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