Occurrence of aflatoxin M₁ in bovine milk and associated risk factors among dairy farms of Punjab, India

Aflatoxin M₁ (AFM₁) contamination in milk and milk products may pose a major public health concern. The present cross-sectional study was aimed to estimate the prevalence of AFM₁ in bovine milk across all districts of Punjab, India and to identify the associated animal and farm level risk factors. A total of 402 milk samples (266 cow milk and 136 buffalo milk) were analysed using commercial ELISA and representative samples were confirmed using HPLC-FLD. The results revealed that 56.2 and 13.4% of the milk samples exceeded the maximum levels of the European Union, i.e. 0.05 μg/l and Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI), i.e. 0.5 μg/l for AFM₁ in milk, respectively. On analysis of species variation, buffalo milk (prevalence: 56.6%; mean concentration: 0.42±0.9 μg/l) was found to have higher AFM₁ levels than cow milk (prevalence: 56.0%; mean concentration: 0.19±0.3 μg/l), with statistically significant difference between mean concentrations (P<0.01) and non-significant difference between AFM₁ prevalence (P=0.91). Furthermore, milk from commercial dairy farms (prevalence: 64.7%; mean concentration: 0.34±0.65 μg/l) was found to be more contaminated than from household dairy establishments (prevalence: 47.8%; mean concentration: 0.19±0.65 μg/l). The risk factors ‘above average milk yield/day’ (odds ratio (OR): 2.4) and ‘poor animal hygiene’ (OR: 1.9) were identified at animal level, and ‘intensive dairy farming’ (OR: 3.1) and ‘animal feed without aflatoxin binder’ (OR: 4.7) as farm level risk factors for AFM₁ excretion above maximum levels of European Union in milk. Among cow breeds, the milk from ‘non-descript’ breed (OR: 11.5) was found to be most contaminated with AFM₁ and the least from Jersey breed (OR: 1.0). The present study highlighted the presence of AFM₁ in milk samples; therefore, regular monitoring of AFM₁ in milk is required so that high risk regions and associated risk factors can be addressed appropriately.