Mycotoxins are attracting worldwide attention because of their implications for food safety, food availability, and international trading. A study was conducted to determine mycotoxin occurrences in stored maize in 150 samples collected from five major maize growing districts of Ethiopia: namely, Mer-Awi, Wenberma, Chelia, Halaba, and Toke Kutaye. Total aflatoxins (AFT), total fumonisins (FUM) and deoxynivalenol (DON) were measured using lateral flow immunoassay whereas the Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay was used for ochratoxin A (OTA). Results indicated that incidences of AFT, FUM, OTA, and DON were 100, 32.7, 24, and 7%, respectively (N=150). The average level of AFT was 14.7±11.6 ng/g ranging between 6.3 ng/g to 150 ng/g. Incidences of safe levels of AFT were 94.6%, 11.3% and 0% when evaluated by the maximum tolerable level (MTL) of Food and Drug Administration (FDA), East African Community (EAC), and the European Commission, respectively. The average level of FUM in positive samples was 0.68±0.94 μg/g with a range between 0.2 μg/g and 6.52 μg/g. OTA positive samples had an average level of 8.2±30.6 ng/g and a range between 2 ng/g and 186.5 ng/g. Likewise, the average and range of DON in positive samples were 0.65±0.46 μg/g and 0.27−1.98 μg/g, respectively. Co-occurrences of mycotoxins were observed, and AFT-FUM co-occurrence incidence was the highest of all others (32.7%, N=150). The occurrence of mycotoxins in stored maize in Ethiopia is evident from the survey result.
