With an average annual production of 6.9 M tonnes and 2.5 M tonnes of maize and wheat respectively, Serbia is one of the main grain producers and exporters in Europe. Cereals are also the major staple food in Serbian diet. In view of the high cereal consumption, for human and animal nutrition, the presence of mycotoxins entails a high public health risk of chronic exposure to mycotoxins. This study provides an overview of the incidence of predominant mycotoxins, mainly in cereal and dairy products, in Serbia, in the 2004–2016, using data reported in the scientific literature. The study demonstrated that the total prevalence of aflatoxins was 62.9% (n = 12,517) with 26.2% of the samples exceeding the EU limits during this period. Results obtained for T-2/HT-2 (n = 523), deoxynivalenol (n = 2907), fumonisins (n = 998), zearalenone (n = 689) and ochratoxin A (n = 740) indicated the prevalence of 45.5%, 42.9%, 63.3%, 39.3% and 28.1%, respectively. For these mycotoxins, the EU limits were less frequently exceeded. Comprehensive collection and analysis of all accessible information reviewed in this paper showed moderate incidence and prevalence of mycotoxins in Serbia, with an exception of the 2012 drought year and the 2014 flood year.

The objective of this research was to perform an exposure assessment of aflatoxin M1 (AFM1) intake through the consumption of milk and yoghurt by the student population in Serbia and Greece. A food consumption survey of milk and yoghurt was performed during the first half of 2018 in the two countries with at least 500 interviewees (aged between 18 and 27 years) per country, covering their dietary habits and body weight based on one-day and seven-day recall methods. Values for the concentration of AFM1 were extracted from published research. Finally, a Monte Carlo analysis of 100,000 iterations was performed to estimate the intake of AFM1 from the consumption of the two dairy products. Results revealed that the estimated average exposure of students to AFM1 was in the range of 1.238–2.674 ng kg⁻¹ bw day⁻¹ for Serbia, and 0.350–0.499 ng kg⁻¹ bw day⁻¹ for Greece, depending on the dietary recall method employed. High estimations for hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) cases/year/10⁵ individuals, depending on the prevalence of Hepatitis B virus surface antigen positive individuals (HBsAg+), were 0.0036–0.0047 and 0.0007–0.0009 for Serbia and Greece, respectively. Presented Margin of Exposure (MOE) and Hazard Index (HI) values indicate increased risk from exposure to AFM1, particularly in Serbia.

The emetic syndrome of Bacillus cereus is a food intoxication caused by cereulide (CER) and manifested by emesis, nausea and in most severe cases with liver failure. While acute effects have been studied in the aftermath of food intoxication, an exposure to low doses of cereulide might cause unnoticed damages to the intestines and liver. The toxicity which relies on the mitochondrial dysfunction was assessed on Caco-2 and HepG2 cells after exposure of one, three and ten days to a range of low doses of cereulide. Oxygen consumption rate analyses were used to study the impact of low doses of CER on the bioenergetics functions of undifferentiated Caco-2 and HepG2 cells using Seahorse XF extracellular flux analyzer. Both Caco-2 and HepG2 cells experienced measurable mitochondrial impairment after prolonged exposure of 10 days to 0.25 nM of cereulide. Observed mitochondrial dysfunction was greatly reflected in reduction of maximal cell respiration. At 0.50 nM CER, mitochondrial respiration was almost completely shut down, especially in HepG2 cells. These results corresponded with a severe reduction in the amount of cells and an altered morphology, observed by microscopic examination of the cells. Accurate and robust quantification of basal respiration, ATP production, proton leak, maximal respiration, spare respiratory capacity, and non-mitochondrial respiration allowed better understanding of the effects of cereulide in underlying respiratory malfunctions in low-dose exposure.

Purpose: Supercritical carbon dioxide (sc-CO₂) is a promising novel treatment that might be used in the food industry, such as sc-CO₂pasteurisation and sc-CO₂drying. Before sc-CO₂treated foodstuffs may be introduced to European market, they have to be authorised according to novel food regulation. Therefore, the purpose of this paper is to give an overview of available literature data on sc-CO₂treated fruits and vegetables, which might be used for novel food authorisation.Design/methodology/approach: The paper is based on literature data available via Science Direct, EBSCO and Wiley concerning sc-CO₂pasteurisation and drying of fruits/vegetables. Studies performed on animal foodstuffs were manually excluded, while articles related to novel foods and legislation were included in the study.Findings: Database search resulted 34 articles related to microbiological and compositional/nutritional changes in sc-CO₂treated foods. Obtained data indicated that sc-CO₂pasteurisation is effective in inactivating microorganisms in liquids, while no general conclusion on the microbiological quality of sc-CO₂pasteurised solid foods or sc-CO₂dried foods could be made. Available literature data showed that sc-CO₂pasteurisation did not result in significant compositional/nutritional changes in liquids, while for sc-CO₂pasteurised solid foods or sc-CO₂dried foods, one is not able to make common conclusions due to insufficient research data. Therefore, additional research and case-by-case study for each treated food have to be prepared.Originality/value: This study is original to the extent that it brought together available information on sc-CO₂pasteurised and dried foods, needed the novel food application.