In January 2018, the Mediterranean Agronomic Institute of Zaragoza (IAMZ-CIHEAM) will host an international course on mycotoxins in cereal food/feed chains. Cereals are a major component of human and livestock diets worldwide and mycotoxins are major natural contaminants in cereal food/feed chains. The consumption of mycotoxin-contaminated commodities is related to several acute and chronic diseases in humans and animals and thus has significant economic and social impacts. Many countries, including the EU, have strict legislative limits in place to minimize consumer exposure to these mycotoxins in food. Thus, mycotoxin contamination has an impact in both developing and developed countries and can affect the availability of staple cereals as well as influence the nutritional quality for human and animal consumption. Food insecurity may also increase in coming years due to climate change and therefore result in more significant mycotoxin related outbreaks in cereals.

This is a very timely course with a food chain approach integrating knowledge from different disciplines. It will contribute to the improvement of mycotoxin risk management and will be beneficial to key stakeholders in the cereal food and feed chains.