An-Najah Staff

The absences or insufficient food control program result in occurrence of mycotoxin in milk and milk product, which has a serious risk for human and can be a public health concern. This study was conducted to highlight the occurrence of aflatoxin M1 in Palestine raw milk collected at the farm level from cities of Tulkarm, Nablus and Jenine. Aflatoxin M1 was determined by direct competitive ELISA technique. 85% (34 of 40) of the total examined raw milk samples tested were positive. The aflatoxin M1 contamination levels were between 3-80 ppt with the mean of 29.57 ppt. There was a high incidence rate with 93% (13 of 14) and the highest means of contaminated with aflatoxin M1 in the samples tested in Tulkarm city (P≤ 0.05). 20% of analyzed sample (8 of 40) exceeded the maximum permissible limit (50 ppt) in European Codex, with range of 2-80 ppt.