The Contamination of Kenyan Lager Beers with Fusarium Mycotoxins

Abstract

Seventy five samples of two popular lager beers, namely Pilsner and Tusker were randomly collected from the city of Nairobi and the surrounding satellite towns in Kenya. The samples were analyzed for the presence of 4 mycotoxins, namely, deoxynivalenol (DON), fumonisin B1 (FB1), zearalenone (ZEA), and aflatoxin B1 (AFB1), by the competitive enzyme linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) technique. The incidences of DON and ZEA were 100% in both brands, while for FB1 the incidence was 72%, with incidences in Tusker (76.9%) being significantly higher than in Pilsner (66.7%) (p = 0.00). The mean values for contamination were 3.29 and 3.57 ng/mL for DON, 0.28 and 0.32 ng/mL for FB1 and 7.84 and 8.50 pg/ml for ZEA in Tusker and Pilsner brands respectively. A positive occurrence association was found between DON and FB1 and DON and ZEA, an indication of their common source from Fusarium sp. The results suggest low levels and safe exposure to consumers of Kenyan lager beers with Fusarium mycotoxins.