A mycotoxin, aflatoxin was discovered in milk coming from cows that fed on mouldy grain stored in inappropriate conditions. The first statement in the contaminated milk case came nearly two weeks ago from the agriculture minister in Bucharest, Daniel Constantin. The Romanian official said that after aflatoxin had been discovered in milk, authorities decided to withdraw a certain quantity of dairy produce from the Romanian market.

The National Sanitary-Veterinary and Food Safety Authority later announced that milk supplies from the farms where aflatoxin was first discovered, had been stopped and checkups had been ordered among producers and processors all over the country. The number of farms where aflatoxin was discovered is very small and the microbe didn’t make it to the market, Minister Constantin announced. He underlined that the toxin becomes hazardous to health only in excessive, prolonged consumption.

Daniel Constantin: “There is no immediate or long-term danger to public health as there is no possibility of long-time consumption of infected milk or dairy products. On the other hand there is an international controversy on the concentration of aflatoxin. There is no scientific proof to date that it poses an immediate or long-term threat to human health.”

Daniel Constantin said we have lately seen what he has called “a fuelled hysteria”, at the same time voicing concern for farmers who might register significant losses. Some farmers believe there is a real war going on between multinational consortiums. Calin Fogaciu, the chair of the Milk Producers Association in Cluj county, western Romania, believes that such food scandals have been sparked off and fuelled by parties interested in eliminating local competition:

Calin Fogaciu: “It’s an economic issue, that’s clear. It all boils down to market sales. I’ll give you an example: the Netherlands produces 11 million hectolitres of milk, while the local consumption stands at 1 million. So, they must sell 10 million hectolitres elsewhere.”

According to a recent survey, the Romanians’ trust in the milk sold on the market has dropped following a hyped-up media campaign on aflatoxin contamination.