Belgium Recalls Polish Rye Flour over Excessive Ochratoxin A Content

Belgium's AFSCA recalled on October 13, 2026, a type 720 rye flour of Polish origin, packaged in 1-kilogram bags, because its ochratoxin A content is too high. The measure followed a notification in the Rapid Alert System for Food and Feed (RASFF), the European early-warning system for food and feed. The agency asks consumers not to use the product and to return it to the point of sale.

The notice does not publish the measured concentration or the limit exceeded, so it is not possible to determine by how much the permitted level was surpassed. European Union rules set maximum ochratoxin A levels in cereals and derived products, and a flour that exceeds them cannot be marketed. Type 720 designates a medium-extraction flour that retains part of the outer layers of the grain, where mycotoxins tend to concentrate.

Ochratoxin A is a mycotoxin produced by fungi of the genera Aspergillus and Penicillium that develop on cereals during storage when moisture and temperature are inadequate. It is heat-stable, so cooking and baking do not destroy it, and it mainly affects the kidneys; the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) classifies it as a possible human carcinogen. For that reason, control focuses on preventing mold growth through dry, well-stored grain and on analyzing the finished flour. A comparable finding, although for a different contaminant, was published in the Czech Republic on October 12 with a dark rye flour exceeding the ergot alkaloid limit, showing that rye receives specific surveillance in the European market.

For mills, flour importers, and laboratories, the case confirms that batch-level mycotoxin analysis should accompany milling, especially for cereals stored for long periods. Ochratoxin A is determined by chromatographic or immunochemical methods and not by the PCR-based pathogen tests in TAAG's catalog, so no kit is proposed for this case.