Citrinin

Identity and toxicology

Citrinin is a fungal secondary metabolite produced by selected strains in several genera, notably Penicillium and Monascus. EFSA's 2012 assessment identified the kidney as the critical target and derived a level of no concern for nephrotoxicity of 0.2 micrograms per kilogram body weight per day. The Panel also concluded that concern for genotoxicity and carcinogenicity could not be excluded at that exposure and emphasised large uncertainties and occurrence-data gaps. This is not a cured-meat limit, nor a concentration that a producer can apply directly to a lot. It is a toxicological reference point within a risk assessment.

Routes relevant to curing

Citrinin is best known from stored cereals and red-yeast-rice products, but cured-meat relevance arises where a producing mould or contaminated ingredient enters the process. P. verrucosum can produce both citrinin and OTA, and formulation and environmental conditions influence metabolite output. A species result therefore cannot predict that one toxin rather than the other is present. Susceptible spice carriers, starches or cereal-derived ingredients require supplier and storage control, while unwanted surface growth requires chamber and culture control. The relative scarcity of cured-meat occurrence data should lead to careful, targeted investigation rather than an unsupported claim that the hazard is absent.

Testing and regulation

Citrinin requires a chemical method targeted to citrinin; an OTA result does not answer the citrinin question. Sampling must reflect the suspected ingredient, surface or lot and the possibility of patchy distribution. In the cited consolidated EU contaminant annex, the specific citrinin maximum is for food supplements based on rice fermented with red yeast Monascus purpureus. It is not a harmonised cured-meat limit. Ingredient rules, general food-safety duties, national provisions and authority decisions may nevertheless apply. Reports should state the matrix, method, quantification limit, uncertainty and legal category rather than quote the supplement limit as a meat acceptance criterion.

Co-occurrence and uncertainty

Citrinin may occur with OTA because some fungi can make both metabolites and the same ingredient or environment can support several moulds. Co-occurrence does not establish a fixed ratio, and a low OTA result cannot predict the citrinin result. Toxicological interaction has been investigated, but limited data do not justify inventing a combined cured-meat threshold. A defensible investigation states which toxins were analysed, why those targets were selected, what remained outside the analytical scope and how uncertainty affected the decision. This is particularly important when a broad multi-mycotoxin screen has unequal recoveries or quantification limits across compounds.

Prevention and disposition

Prevent citrinin through qualified susceptible ingredients, dry protected storage, dust control, a defined surface culture where appropriate and management of chamber humidity, condensation and reservoirs. If P. verrucosum or citrinin is detected, hold linked ingredient and product lots and investigate both ingredient and surface routes. Additional salt, drying, smoking or cooking cannot be credited without evidence that the exact treatment controls citrinin and any relevant transformation products in the actual matrix. Product disposition must use representative chemical evidence and competent legal and toxicological judgment, not colour, odour or removal of visible mould.