Concentration of ochratoxin A in coffee products and probabilistic health risk assessment

Coffee is a beverage that people enjoy a lot in their daily lives and is an integral part of people's social life. In this study, the detection of ochratoxin A (OTA) in coffee was carried out by High-performance liquid chromatography with fluorescence (HPLC-FLD) detectors. Furthermore, the amount of ochratoxin A (OTA), Margin of exposure (MOEs), and Hazard quotient (HQ) in different types of coffees; instant, classic, and roasted coffee were calculated using Monte Carlo simulation (MCS) method. The average OTA concentration was in the rage of 3.6 to 26.6 µg/kg. The content of classic and instant coffee found to have.OTA, is below the maximum limit defined by the European Union legislation. The maximum limit for these two types of coffee is 10 µg/kg. The daily intakes of the OTA through classic and instant coffee were also found to be lower than the Tolerance daily intake proposed by Joint FAO/WHO Expert Committee on Food Additives (JECFA). MOEs (neoplastic effect) in adults was classic coffee (171026) > roasted coffee (15390) > instant coffee (8549) and also MOEs (non-neoplastic effects) in children was classic coffee (55790) > roasted coffee (5020) > instant coffee (2789). Consumers of instant coffee are at cancer risk based on neoplastic effects and also consumers of instant coffee and roasted coffee are at cancer risk based on non-neoplastic effects (MOEs lower than 10,000 value). HQ (nephrotoxic effect) in adults was instant coffee (0.132) > roasted coffee (0.097) > classic coffee (0.012). HQ due to consumption of coffee products was lower than 1, hence consumers are at safe non-cancer risk. Therefore, it is recommended reducing the concentration of mycotoxins in coffee products.