Ochratoxin A in blood from slaughter pigs in Sweden: use in evaluation of toxin content of consumed feed

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Abstract
Samples of pig blood, intended for ochratoxin A analysis, were collected from pigs of 279 randomly selected herds. The samples were obtained at 9 different slaughterhouses from different areas of Sweden. Pigs from 47 herds (16.8% of the total) exhibited ochratoxin A in amounts of .gtoreq. 2 ng of ochratoxin A per ml of blood. One sample each from a single pig per herd identified herds contaminated with ochratoxin A in amounts exceeding 3 times the detection limit of the method (3 .times. 2 ng of ochratoxin A per ml of blood = 6 ng of ochratoxin A per ml of blood). There was a good agreement between ochratoxin A concentrations in the blood from different pigs within the same herd (correlation coefficient = 0.80). The ochratoxin A concentration in pig blood was used as an estimate of the ochratoxin A content of the consumed feed. Feed from grain produced on-farm contained higher concentrations of ochratoxin A than commercial feed preparations. No geographical variation of ochratoxin A occurrence within Sweden was detected.

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