Occurrence of ochratoxin A in green and roasted coffee beans from the Saudi market and a possible exposure assessment

Background: Saudi Arabia is experiencing continuous growth and rising interest in the coffee industry. Coffee beans are known to be susceptible to mycotoxin contamination, especially to the toxin ochratoxin A (OTA). Previously data show that 94.4% of coffee beans from the Saudi market were contaminated with OTA. Since then, the Saudi Food and Drug Authority (SFDA) has taken strong actions to limit the contamination of coffee with OTA. This work reports the investigation carried out to assess the current contamination status of coffee with OTA. Results: The OTA was found in 28 samples (13.5% detection rate) in green coffee beans with an average concentration of 7.3 mu g/kg. In contrast, roasted coffee had only four positive samples (4.5% detection rate) with a mean value of 3.4 mu g/kg. The average daily dose (ADD) of ingested OTA by the Saudi population was estimated in three different scenarios. In the worst-case scenario, estimated ADD (around 0.373ng/kg bw/day) was below the provisional tolerable daily intake. Conclusion: Our analytical data and risk assessment calculations suggest that there is no health risk to the Saudi population from exposure to OTA in coffee. In addition, the results of this study show that SFDA's measures were effective in reducing coffee contamination with OTA.