Survey of Mycotoxins in U.S. Distiller’s Dried Grains with Solubles from 2009 to 2011

Distiller’s dried grains with solubles (DDGS) is a major coproduct of the fuel-ethanol industry and is becoming a popular low-cost ingredient for animal feed. Uncertainties regarding the risk factors in DDGS, such as level of mycotoxins, could limit its application in the animal feed industry. To provide a scientifically sound assessment of the prevalence and levels of mycotoxins in U.S. DDGS, we measured aflatoxins, deoxynivalenol, fumonisins, T-2 toxin, and zearalenone in 67 DDGS samples collected from 8 ethanol plants in the midwestern United States from 2009 to 2011. Among the five mycotoxins, deoxynivalenol was the main focus of the study because the crop year of 2009 was favorable for deoxynivalenol occurrence in corn. We learned that no more than 12% of the samples contained deoxynivalenol levels higher than the minimum advisory level for use in animal feed provided by the U.S. FDA, and the deoxynivalenol levels in all DDGS collected in 2011 were