Every one of 212 plant-based meat alternatives and beverages pulled off UK supermarket shelves contained at least one mycotoxin, a naturally occurring compound produced by molds, according to a study published in the journal Food Control by researchers at the University of Parma and Cranfield University.
Across the tested products, the team detected 19 different mycotoxins in total, with many samples carrying more than one. Every quantified level came in below the EU's recommended guideline thresholds for cereals and related foods, the researchers reported.
Mycotoxins are compounds molds leave behind on crops such as grains, legumes and seeds during cultivation and storage. They can persist through processing and cooking, and, as the researchers put it, they cannot be completely avoided in the food supply.
Where the toxins turned up
The sample covered 92 meat alternatives, including burgers, vegetarian chicken pieces and vegan sausages, plus 120 plant-based drinks made from oat, almond and soy. Enniatins and beauvericin, two compounds produced by Fusarium molds, showed up in 93 to 99 percent of the meat alternatives, Food Safety Magazine reported. Aflatoxins were found in up to 82.6 percent of meat alternatives and in up to 66.7 percent of legume-based products.
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Ochratoxin A, a compound linked to kidney damage, was detected in 90 percent of soy-based beverages. Legume-based and mixed cereal-legume products, the raw materials many burger and sausage substitutes rely on, were the most heavily contaminated category overall.
What "below safety limits" means
The EU sets maximum permitted levels for the mycotoxins it considers the biggest risks to human health, including aflatoxins, ochratoxin A and deoxynivalenol, according to the European Food Safety Authority. Every quantifiable level in the UK products stayed under those thresholds, which the researchers said reflects the standards maintained by the UK food industry.
The concern is different. Individual products are within known limits, but people who eat the same plant-based staples every day could accumulate a mix of toxins that no single-food regulation is designed to catch. The team warned in the Cranfield statement that a diet heavily built on meat and dairy substitutes could lead to a cumulative build-up over time.
"Mycotoxins occur naturally in foods and cannot be completely avoided. As consumers, we should not be frightened or deterred from enjoying a variety of products," Andrea Patriarca, senior lecturer in mycology at Cranfield University, said in the university's statement. "However, a significant concern arises when new foods enter the market, as there are currently no established regulations to monitor mycotoxins."
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What it means at the dinner table
The practical takeaway is variety. Rotating protein sources, rather than eating the same brand of veggie burger or drinking the same soy milk daily, spreads exposure across raw materials rather than concentrating it. That advice lines up with earlier warnings against assuming plant-based drinks are automatically healthier than dairy.
The Parma and Cranfield teams say they are now working to estimate how much cumulative mycotoxin exposure typical plant-based diets deliver, and to feed those numbers to European policymakers. The research is funded through the Horizon Europe FunShield4Med project.
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This article is made and published by Jesper Bengtson, who may have used AI in the preparation.