Deoxynivalenol (DON) in beers sold on the Italian market in 2018 and 2024

Exposure to mycotoxins also occurs when consuming beverages such as beer; therefore, estimating mycotoxin consumption requires the assessment of the mycotoxin content in the final products. As part of a university practical activity within the course “Biotic Contamination of Food and Environments - Bachelor Degree in Food Service Science and Technology” and two experimental theses of students of the same course, we present here the occurrence of DON in a total of 141 beers sold on the Italian market (collected in two different time windows during the year 2018 (n=72) and 2024 (n=69)). Beer sampling was carried out randomly in supermarkets and specialised shops by students, who collected Italian and international beers, including industrial and craft breweries. Mycotoxin content was assessed using the RIDASCREEN DON competitive ELISA kit (R-Biopharm). All beers were analysed at least twice, and measures were repeated when quantification differences exceeded 10 % between the two measures. The average DON contamination was 34.3 μg/L (range: 6.1-111.2 μg/L) in 2018 and 50.12 μg/L (range 7.6-154.5 μg/L) in 2024. Statistical analysis did not reveal significant differences among the different types of beers (according to year, alcohol content, type of production, and special ingredients added) within the complete dataset. Nonetheless, beers of the same producer sampled in the two time points showed a variation of DON up to 400%. Overall, this study provides an average amount of DON consumed from beer sold on the Italian market. The fluctuation of DON content in beers by year confirms the importance of continuous monitoring of food and beverage sources for mycotoxin exposure data.