U.S. peanut quality: Industry priorities to mitigate aflatoxin risk from farm to consumer

Authors: Butts, Christopher - Chris; Lamb, Marshall; ZIMMER, KARL - Premium Peanut Llc; SANTOS, RACHEL - Premium Peanut Llc; HOISINGTON, DAVID - University Of Georgia; ADAMS, JULIE - Almond Board Of California; COWART, DARLENE - Birdsong Peanuts; TILLMAN, BARRY - University Of Florida; KEMERAIT, ROBERT - University Of Georgia; MARSHALL, JULIE - Lubbock Christian University; JACKSON, MIKE - Jla Global; DAVIS, JACK - Jla Global; STERLING, SAMARA - The Peanut Institute; ELDER, JAMES - Jee Food Consulting, Llc

Submitted to: Peanut Science
Publication Type: Peer Reviewed Journal
Publication Acceptance Date: 7/27/2023
Publication Date: 12/7/2023
Citation: Butts, C.L., Lamb, M.C., Zimmer, K., Santos, R., Hoisington, D., Adams, J., Cowart, D., Tillman, B., Kemerait, R.C., Marshall, J., Jackson, M., Davis, J., Sterling, S., Elder, J. 2023. U.S. peanut quality: Industry priorities to mitigate aflatoxin risk from farm to consumer. Peanut Science. 50(1), p.29-40. https://doi.org/10.3146/0095-3679-501-PS22-15.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.3146/0095-3679-501-PS22-15

Interpretive Summary: Aflatoxin is a secondary metablolite produced by the molds Aspergillus flavus and Aspergillus parasiticus. Both molds infect peanuts causing them to be possibly contaminated with aflatoxin in concentrations above the acceptable limits set by the USDA. Aflatoxin contamination causes considerable economic losses by the US peanut industry on an annual basis. The 2019 peanut crop was one of the worst on record in terms of aflatoxin contamination and resulted in approximately 30% of the finished lots of shelled peanuts failing to meet USDA specifications for edible peanuts. This caused increased processing costs due to re-milling, product loss, and diversion to low value markets such as crushing for oil. As a result of the on-going issue, the peanut industry formed the Aflatoxin Working Group in 2020 to (1) evaluate the state of the art in production, transportation, handling, storage, and processing and the effect on aflatoxin contamination; (2) identify the gaps in knowledge, and (3) prioritize the importance of the knowledge gaps in relation to the risk of aflatoxin contamination. A workshop to address these three goals was held Nov 2021 and this manuscript captures the state of the art of knowledge and the industry's priorities for research to mitigate the risk of aflatoxin contamination.

Technical Abstract: The 2019 peanut crop was the worst year in recent history for aflatoxin contamination in finished lots of shelled runner peanuts. This was largely due to excessive heat and late season drought in the southeastern US. The industry estimated that approximately 30% of finished lots failed to meet the USDA aflatoxin specifications for edible peanuts causing increased costs due to re-milling, material loss, and diversion to low value markets such as crushing for oil. As a result, the peanut industry formed the Aflatoxin Working Group at the 2020 American Peanut Council’s Winter Conference to (1) evaluate the state of the art in production, transportation, handling, storage, and processing, (2) identify the gaps in knowledge, and (3) prioritize the importance of the knowledge gaps in relation to risk of aflatoxin contamination. As a means toward meeting these objectives, the Aflatoxin Task Force organized a Peanut Quality Symposium held in Tifton, Georgia on November 29-30, 2021. This symposium was open to all interested stakeholders. This article is a synopsis of the symposium.