Moulds, Mycotoxins and Children’s Health
For millions of children, exposure occurs daily through the foods they eat and the environments in which they live
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Moulds and mycotoxins are among the most widespread and under-recognized threats to food safety and child health worldwide. Produced naturally by fungi that grow on staple crops such as maize, ground nuts, rice and wheat, mycotoxins contaminate food before harvest, during storage and along the food supply chain. They are invisible, odourless and resistant to cooking, making them difficult to detect or remove.
The Food and Agriculture Organization estimates that roughly one quarter of the world’s cereals, nuts and spices are contaminated with mycotoxins in any given year, placing billions of people at risk. The burden falls disproportionately on low- and middle-income countries where warm, humid climates favour fungal growth, food safety systems are under-resourced and households depend heavily on a limited number of staple crops. Children also may be exposed to moulds and mycotoxins through the indoor air in homes and schools. Compared with adults, they consume more food per kilogram of body weight and are undergoing rapid development of the immune system, lungs and brain. A growing body of evidence links chronic mycotoxin exposure with impaired child growth, weakened immunity and developmental risks.
