Type B Trichothecenes in Grain-Based Foods: Method Validation and Analysis of Convenience Survey Samples

The FDA monitors deoxynivalenol in the food supply, with an advisory level of 1,000 ng/g established for finished wheat products. To better understand the presence of deoxynivalenol and related type B trichothecenes─nivalenol, 3- and 15-acetyl-deoxynivalenol, and deoxynivalenol-3-glucoside─in food products available in the United States market, we developed and validated a liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry method for their determination. Using this method, we analyzed a convenience sampling of 61 infant/toddler products and 35 grain-based food products. The overall detection rate for the five type B trichothecenes was 24% (23/96), with deoxynivalenol being the most frequently detected mycotoxin (15-312 ng/g) in 14 infant/toddler and 8 grain-based food products. Neither 3- nor 15-acetyl-deoxynivalenol was detected in any samples. Co-occurrence of deoxynivalenol-3-glucoside and deoxynivalenol was found in 8 of the 14 infant/toddler products with positive detects, with concentration ratios ranging from 0.1 to 0.7.