aflatoxin test

[cob]

aflatoxin glows green under a black light. the jack daniels people claim to reject any shippments of corn that have any percentage of aflatoxin because it adversly affects the flavor of the final product. cob

[scotty]

I never heard of it till you mentioned it here. So whats are you recomending??

Highly cancer causing stuff. It is only sometimes found in corn????

[cob]

I never heard of it till you mentioned it here. So whats are you recomending??

Highly cancer causing stuff. It is only sometimes found in corn????

http://www.ansci.cornell.edu/plants/tox ... toxin.html . this is a more balanced view. all i would recomend is not making wash with moldy corn, and that looked like an easy test for aflatoxin.
that EHSO site starts the article with "potent human carcinogin" and offers nothing to back that statement. looks like some kind of agenda to me.
cornell says it is carcinogenic in high doses in certain lab animals, if it was a big deal it would have had a lot more press.
just an easy test for something that jd says may affect taste. imho jd and taste in the same sentence is a joke in itself. cob

[docdave]

Cob,

I think the alfatoxin test is done by JD because its an easy way to check whether the corn was harvested and stored properly before reaching their factory. Most tests for fungi (mold ) like Aspergillus take time and labour. Its easy to keep producers honest by passing a blacklight over a shipment. Aspergillus niger or black mold is also common and its something most of us have seen. I plan to start making whiskey soon and I will definitely check out the quality of the corn before going through the labour of an allgrain mash with corn. As for a supplier, if you can get a look at their storage facility, look for adequate ventilation (fans) and some kind of humidity monitor. As you well know, most fungi cause bad odours and sniffing the grain and its packaging will help tip you off about bad product. Alfatoxin is nasty enough but any grain that has a high fungal load is going to make poor quality booze.

DocDave

[Paul1453]

Most tests for fungi (mold ) like Aspergillus take time and labour. Its easy to keep producers honest by passing a blacklight over a shipment. Aspergillus niger or black mold is also common and its something most of us have seen.

Aspergillus is purposely added to ferment rice. I do not think that Aspergillus is a fungus you should worry about in your ferment. It might even help.

[docdave]

Paul 1453,

I was using Aspergillus as an example to the members much like the familiar bread mold, Penicillium. I agree many environmental fungi (molds) are harmless but some are quite deadly! Personally, when I find food with fungus growing on it, I throw it away. I think the same can be said of grain "good quality in, good quality out". Most grain if stored properly (proper humidity) is perfectly safe. I just want to start with good product if I'm going to spend alot of time working with it.

DocDave

[Paul1453]

I understand, the ergot fungus that grows on rye is a natural source of LSD. I wouldn't want that in my ferment, but who knows some others might.

[dis-still-in]

Been looking at aflatoxin and corn as I have been researching other member's posts on using feed corn/deer corn instead of buying the expensive homebrew store corn. My feed store carries a brand of deer corn and on it's label it says less than 10ppm aflatoxin and less than 20ppb fumonisin. This definitely gave me pause. FDA says that 20ppb fumonisin is ok for human consumption but only 4ppm on the aflatoxin.

Other member's describe using 'cracked corn' from feed stores but I haven't had a chance to eyeball a bag from the local tractor supply to see if it has any mold statement...

Sounds like some of you folk here are fairly knowledgeable when it comes to this. Thoughts?

FDA website that applies: http://www.fda.gov/Food/GuidanceComplia ... 109231.htm

[rad14701]

dis-still-in, I am relatively certain that aflatoxin wouldn't carry over through the distillation process and even if it did it would be in amounts well below those that you might encounter on a regular basis anyway...

[Backwoods Distillers]

Well, I've purchased the whole and cracked corn from different feed stores. When I stored the corn in buckets with oxygen absorber, the corn still got mold all over it. I'm talking a week later. I put a few pieces in the microwave oven and it popped like popcorn. This indicates there is too much moisture.
I buy my corn from Honeyville Grains. Yes, it is more expensive than feed stores, but I don't have mold problems any more. When you put their corn in the microwave, there is no popping.

[rad14701]

Going back some 30 years, to when I used to maintain and drive combines, I seem to recall the ideal moisture content at harvest for corn to be in the 28% - 32% range or lower, and on the high end a liquid drying agent might be required because the moisture content could rise during storage and cause spoilage in the farmers silos... When selling corn the farmers were paid more for fully dried corn because it didn't require a trip through the buyers driers to reduce moisture content prior to storage... And the lower the moisture content, the lower the incidence of aflatoxin growth...

[johnny108]

Backwoods Distillers- What oxygen absorber were you using?