Occurrence of Aflatoxin M1 in raw and pasteurized milk produced in west region of Iran (during summer and winter)

In the present study, 144 milk samples (102 raw milk samples and 42 pasteurized milk samples) in west region of Iran were examined for aflatoxin M1 by ELISA. AFM1 was found in 47.91% of the samples by average concentration of 39.45 ± 18.40 ng/l. The highest mean concentration of aflatoxin M1 was registered in traditional dairy farm samples (43.9 ± 9.5 ng/l). The concentration of AFM1 in 21.5% of raw cow milk and 11.9% pasteurized milks were higher than maximum tolerance limit accepted by European union/Codex Alimentarius Commission (50 ng/l). The level of contamination in winter was significantly (P 0.05) higher than in summer.