Paper Title
Milk Contamination with Aflatoxin M1 A in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia

Abstract
Although rumen flora protects dairy animals against exposure to mycotoxins, various mycotoxins can pass this barrier to the animal milk. The major metabolite excreted with milk in dairy sheep, cows and other ruminants is Aflatoxin M1 (AFM1). In this connection, 160 milk samples of camel, cow milk, goat, sheep and pasteurized milk samples were collected from different farms of Jeddah and supermarkets for the pasteurized milk samples. All samples were screened for Aflatoxin M1 using immunoaffinity columns and Fluorometer for mycotoxin detection. Out of 32 camel milk samples, 10(31%) were contaminated AFM1. The quantity of AFM1 detected in camel milk was ranged from 0.017 -0. 140 ppb with mean value of 0.046 ppb which is lower that recommended by FDA (0.5 ppb). Concerning cow milk, 95 % of samples were contaminated and the quantity of AFM1was ranged from 0.09- 0.65 ppb with mean value of 0.04 ppb which is lower than the limit recorded Euro-limit (0.05ppb) for milk while 6 samples exceed USA limit (0.5 ppb). No cow milk samples exceed the USA regulatory limit but 50% of samples exceed the Euro-limit. The less milk contaminated samples with AFM1 were camel milk samples< pasteurized milk< goat milk< sheep milk< cow milk. Statistical analysis showed that camel milk samples were significantly less contaminated compared to cow milk samples. On conclusion, all examined milk samples collected from Jeddah were contaminated with minimal level of AFM1 and not exceed the USA limit, thus milk is a save food for consummation by human and infants. Key words- Aflatoxins, milk, cow, camel, mycotoxins