The aim of this paper is to give an overview of the presence of biogenic amines, particularly histamine, in various food products, discuss the most important factors influencing their accumulation, and address potential toxicity and safe limits in food. Biogenic amines are natural components of animal and plant raw materials, where they are present at concentrations appearing non-harmful to human health. Their increased content in foods results from the activity of endogenous enzymes or from the microbial decarboxylation of amino acids during controlled or spontaneous fermentation, processing, storage, and distribution. General knowledge of biogenic amines, factors favouring their formation and their safe limits in food are useful in preventing exposure to their toxic effects on the human body. Based on this information, appropriate prophylaxis can be applied, which will consist primarily of maintenance of good hygiene standards of raw materials and products, employment of appropriate processing procedures and upkeep of sanitary food storage conditions.

This study was conducted to observe the occurrence of aflatoxin in chicken feed from Peninsular Malaysia. A total of 336 samples of chicken feed from Peninsular Malaysia were conveniently collected in this survey. The chicken feed represented the following three categories which are starter, grower and finisher. All samples werecollected from local poultry farms in East Coast Region (Kelantan, Terengganu, and Pahang), Northern Region (Perlis, Kedah, Penang, and Perak), Southern Region (Malacca, Johor) and Central Region (Selangor, Negeri Sembilan) of Peninsular Malaysia for a periodof six months (July-December 2015). Enzymelinked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) was used for screening of total aflatoxin (TA) in the samples. High performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) with fluorescence detector was used for determination of aflatoxin B and G. Moisture content of samples was determined using the hot airoven method (AOAC International, 2011). Overall, the incidence of positive TA >20 µg/kg in chicken feed is 14.9% (50 samples). The average level of TA was found significantly different between different states at p<0.05 for both broiler grower and finisher. Thechromatograph results showed that positive samples were found in broiler finisher from Kedah (94.6 µg/kg and 42.1 µg/kg) and Penang(56.4 µg/kg) with aflatoxin B1. In this study, the range of moisture content were around 6.5-27.3%. About 40% samples have more than12% moisture content. One of the predisposing factors for aflatoxin accumulation in chicken feed is moisture content. The results warrantthe need for surveillance and constant monitoring programmes for the prevention of aflatoxin incidence in poultry farms.