Mycotoxins status in Morocco during the period 2011–2024: Monitoring in food and feed, risk assessment and regulation aspects

Mycotoxins issues continue to attract the interest of scientists and decision-makers worldwide given their harmful effects on human and animal health, and their economic impact. In Morocco, a Mediterranean and North African country, mycotoxins may constitute a potential risk for consumers and numerous research papers have been published during the last decade to assess the situation. Thus, the main objectives of this literature review are to provide the scientific community and Moroccan decision-makers with recent data and general overview of mycotoxin contamination over the period (2011–2024), to highlight the main contaminated food and feed, the most mycotoxins found and their contamination levels. Published data showed that the most studied food commodities in the country were cereals and their derivatives, spices, animal feed, dried fruits, medicinal plants, green tea and milk. The prevalence of some hazardous mycotoxins such as aflatoxins, ochratoxin A, deoxynivalenol, zearalenone and enniatins was found sometimes high in some investigated commodities (up to 93%). The regulatory aspects recently adopted in the country regarding mycotoxins will also be detailed, in comparison with the international legislation in the European area, as well as with the Codex Alimentarius regulations. Finally, the main studies on exposure assessment and risk assessment will also be discussed.