Iran's Ministry Talks Contaminated Milk, Polluted Corn Rumors

All the food products in Iran are under control of the country's Ministry of Health and there's no production outside of the set standards, said the Head of Agricultural Jihad Ministry of Iran Abbas Keshavarz, Trend reports via ISNA. Keshavarz was commenting on rumors that milk in Iran is contaminated with aflatoxin.

Aflatoxicosis is the disease caused by the consumption of high levels of aflatoxins. At low levels of intake, usually there are no visual symptoms of aflatoxicosis, and as such the problem is often unnoticed. However, high concentrations of aflatoxins, or prolonged exposure at low levels, cause visual symptoms in cattle, and especially in young calves. The diagnosis of aflatoxicosis is often difficult because of the variation in clinical signs, gross pathological conditions, and the presence of secondary infectious diseases due to the suppression of the immune system. In addition, under commercial conditions, more than one mycotoxin may be present in any contaminated feed, and this makes definitive diagnosis of aflatoxicosis quite difficult. The carry over rate of aflatoxins from contaminated feed into milk in dairy cows is considered to average 1%–2%. However, in high yielding cows, which consume significant amounts of concentrated feeds, the carry over rate of aflatoxin M1 into milk can reach 6.2%.

Keshavarz pointed out that the level of standards in the country are strict. "Not one kilogram of polluted corn has entered the country, so there's nothing to worry about," he said, referring to more rumors about Iran importing polluted corn. Also, Keshavarz pointed to the per capita consumption of agricultural inputs in the country and stated that on average

He also pointed to the per capita consumption of agricultural inputs in the country and stated that on average Iran has the pessticide consumption at around 30,000 tons and more than 80% of pesticides are produced domestically. “Fertilizer consumption is also about 3 million tons, more than 2.6 million of which produced domestically,” he said. - Trend