Aflatoxin, what is it and where is it?

[Moxie]

Somewhere here on the forum I found a person asking if they could feed their bird the peanuts that were in the bag of food that they bought and someone else responded that no that the peanuts have aflatoxins. I was unable to find the questions again so I thought I would make a new post.

I do not want to step on any toes or hurt feelings but this is incorrect information. In the interest of time I am going to use the write up from Wikipedia https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aflatoxin please read it.

The spores that cause these aflatoxins are in so many foods that you eat and drink. If you have a houseplant their in the soil. It is quite literally in every single breath that you take. I have seen more moldy macadamia nuts than I have ever seen in any other nut and believe me I have seen a lot.

Peanuts are extremely nutritious hence why they were used as the base for so many of the pellets that were sold for years and years. Aflatoxins are the main reason why peanuts and pistachios are roasted they both carry the same risk level for them.

Do I feed peanuts? No not really but I have a few that lived on them before they came to live with me and I do buy them from time to time.

I am not advocating for feeding them if you aren't comfortable doing so but at least know the truth about aflatoxins.

 

[Scott]

I respectfully believe a closer inspection of Aflatoxin is warranted by supplementing the above with scholarly sources:

https://www.merckvetmanual.com/toxicology/mycotoxicoses/aflatoxicosis

https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/3541365/

https://www.ckwri.tamuk.edu/sites/default/files/publication/pdfs/2017/twa_2017-aflatoxin.pdf

 

[noodles123]

I know that these spores are all around, but the concentration in peanuts=higher and parrots are very sensitive. If their immune system drops, they cannot fend them off as well, and can get aspergilosis and liver issues-- the latter from ingesting the aflatoxins (there is def a link between this and peanuts).

 

[Moxie]

I know that these spores are all around, but the concentration in peanuts=higher and parrots are very sensitive. If their immune system drops, they cannot fend them off as well, and can get aspergilosis and liver issues-- the latter from ingesting the aflatoxins (there is def a link between this and peanuts).

Peanuts get a bad rap because there has literally been more research done on peanuts for aflatoxins than there has on any other food. Peanuts are ground Zero or maybe I should say Turkey X for Aflatoxins. You can read about it here:

https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs...scroll=top&needAccess=true&journalCode=itxr20

https://www.moldbacteria.com/mold/a...unidentified-spores-what-should-you-know.html

Aflatoxins can be found is so many foods from so many different types of Fungi. What about Zearalenone? It is a pretty bad mycotoxin that is found in corn, barley, oats, wheat, and sorghum. You can read about them here:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zearalenone

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mycotoxins_in_animal_feed

The spores for fungi are every where around us all the time. We are breathing them in with every breathe. It is in our food supply and there is no way to avoid it. Human food levels are lower than what is allows for animal feeds for mycotoxins including aflatoxins.

I don't buy anything avian except for pellets for Moxie and I have been trying to get her off of them since we got her. None of my other birds eat pellets. She eats very little of them now but she just isn't ready to give them up, they were the only food that she was ever given for the first few years of her life. I was told that they were all she was ever given and she in my opinion she looked like it too.

I have a lot of information to share on the subject for anyone who wants to explore further.

Immune Compromised is an umbrella term that is used widely in medical literature but what does it actually mean? First thing people usually think of is cancer or some other disease but in reality it really means anything that can depress the immune system. Vitamin deficiencies, stress, loneliness, lack of adequate protein, poor sleep and the list just keeps going.

Every day I see more and more articles of the negative health effects of eating a diet of highly processed foods. So I try to provide the healthiest foods for my family and my birds are family.

https://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/325330

Remember a significant amount of our immune system lives in our guts and it is kept healthy by the foods that we eat. You can read about it here:

https://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/res...the-gut-where-bacteria-and-immune-system-meet