In this study, the contribution of indirect and direct OTA
contamination in the pork product chain was assessed. As regards
the animals fed for 2 weeks at a level slightly less than 50 mg kg1
,
the guidance value recommended by the Commission of European
Communities, the OTA levels in muscle and in the ripened products
were close to 1 mg kg1
(range of the mean values 0.65e
1.60 mg kg1
), the guideline value in meat products recommended
by the Italian Ministry of Health. The enrichment factor from
muscle to the ripened products depended on the type of ripened
pork product and probably on the curing period; in this study, OTA
markedly decreased during the long curing of ham. As regards
direct contamination, very high OTA levels were found only in drycured ham (maximum value 314.09 mg kg1
). These results
confirmed that direct contamination should generally be monitored in dry-cured ham, whereas indirect contamination may
eventually be of concern in other typical Italian pork products.