New threshold for aflatoxin levels in milk from December 1

From December 1, a new, much stricter threshold for the allowed level of aflatoxins in milk starts applying in Serbia. Instead of the current 0.25 micrograms per kilogram, the maximum allowed concentration will be 0.05 micrograms - for raw milk, thermally processed milk and milk intended for further processing.

This change is proscribed by the Regulation on the Amendments to the Regulation on the Maximum Concentrations of Certain Contaminants in Food, published in the Official Gazette.

Aflatoxins drew public attention in Serbia slightly more than a decade ago, when panic arose due to their high level in milk.

Since then, there have been almost regular discussions about what amount is not harmful to people’s health and what the allowed quantity of aflatoxins in milk is, and what it should be.

In the past years, the Ministry of Agriculture has been “threatening” agriculturists with lowering the threshold. In Serbia, at the moment, the allowed level of aflatoxin in milk is 0.25 micrograms per kilogram.

Although the allowed concentration of aflatoxins was supposed to be lowered from December 1 last year according to the regulation that the Ministry of Agriculture had adopted in August, eventually, the threshold remained the same.

One of the main reasons why the state wants to reduce the level of aflatoxins is so that it would be equalized with the level that is allowed in the European Union (EU), which is 0.05 micrograms.

Ministarstvo poljoprivrede, šumarstva i vodoprivrede Republike Srbije

aflatoxins

Regulation on the Maximum Concentrations of Certain Contaminants in Food