Aflatoxins can cause liver cancer (Daily Monitor)

Daily Monitor (Uganda) published an article on one health impact of aflatoxins. This year, Kenya, a country where maize is a major food crop, stopped the importation of maize from Uganda because of quality concerns. Their main complaint about Ugandan maize, according to media reports, was the presence of aflatoxins in the maize. Uganda loses more than $38 million (Shs140b) as a result of failure to export grains due to aflatoxins. According to IFPRI, in Demand for aflatoxin-safe maize in Kenya, up to 172,000 liver cancer cases per year are attributable to aflatoxin exposure. In addition, aflatoxins have the potential to cause birth defects in children; stunting, immunosuppression, and therefore may decrease resistance to infectious agents and can cause acute poisoning that can be life-threatening.