Chocolate Limits Moulds, Mycotoxins
Good Day,
I know this is a somewhat old thread but I have a question. If molds produce mycotoxins, is there a limit for mycotoxins? I am having a mold issue in one of our chocolate bonbons. We have decided it is a quality issue and have made adjustments to the recipe. We have also included water activity testing. I just want to know the limit of mold in food and I have not found any even the lab can't find any and cant help me. I have gone through so many threads on this forum and so many online resources, there is no limit for mold or a guideline to follow. I am trying to decide if I should send out another sample to be tested for mycotoxins or aflatoxins? The lab also said that is the only way to determine if the mold is pathogenic or not. I just want to make sure I am taking the right steps.
Thank you.
Good Day,
I know this is a somewhat old thread but I have a question. If molds produce mycotoxins, is there a limit for mycotoxins? I am having a mold issue in one of our chocolate bonbons. We have decided it is a quality issue and have made adjustments to the recipe. We have also included water activity testing. I just want to know the limit of mold in food and I have not found any even the lab can't find any and cant help me. I have gone through so many threads on this forum and so many online resources, there is no limit for mold or a guideline to follow. I am trying to decide if I should send out another sample to be tested for mycotoxins or aflatoxins? The lab also said that is the only way to determine if the mold is pathogenic or not. I just want to make sure I am taking the right steps.
Thank you.
Hi FG,
How much mould ?
See this attachment for chocolate micro specs -
micro - chocolate.pdf 56.45KB 34 downloads
I think yr lab is correct. Note that mycotoxins in cocoa are a well-known occurrence, eg this 2019 article -
Understanding mycotoxin contamination,2019.pdf 2.26MB 34 downloads
and this extracted comment -
So far, few countries have set regulatory limits for OTA in cocoa beans and cocoa products. Tafuri et al. [54] recommended setting a limit for OTA in raw cocoa and byproducts (maximum of 1 µg/kg in chocolate, chocolate powder and drinking chocolate and 2 µg/kg in cocoa beans, cocoa nibs, cocoa mass, cocoa cake and cocoa powder) [54]. However, the European Commission has stated that it did not appear necessary at that moment [55]. Considering the high consumption of cocoa products and chocolate by children and the results published by our group [46,56], the Brazilian Sanitary Surveillance Agency (ANVISA) set limits of 10 µg/kg for cocoa beans and 5 µg/kg for cocoa products and chocolate sold in Brazil, for both OTA and total aflatoxins [4].
(Pg 10/17)
PS - also can see -
Analysis_of_cocoa_products_for_ochratoxin_A_and_aflatoxins.pdf 248.37KB 22 downloads
It sounds to me that you need to perform a deep dive on this particular item to find out why it's happening in only one bonbon
assuming you use the same chocolate(s) across all your products, something else is contributing to the issue here
is the filling changing the water activity enough to allow for mold growth? or is the filling actually the source of the mold spores to begin with
what does your HVAC cleaning process look like---have you had a roof leak
A fishbone would be really useful---if you don't do a deep dive on this you'll end up with issues again and again until you figure out the root cause
Hi FG,
How much mould ?
See this attachment for chocolate micro specs -
I think yr lab is correct. Note that mycotoxins in cocoa are a well-known occurrence, eg this 2019 article -
Understanding mycotoxin contamination,2019.pdf
and this extracted comment -
PS - also can see -
Analysis_of_cocoa_products_for_ochratoxin_A_and_aflatoxins.pdf
Thank you so much Charles. C. We got mold as high as 300000 for 1 sample and as low as 120 for another.