This study showed that 94% of peanut butters obtained in Portau-
Prince and Cap Haitian, Haiti, during 2012 and 2013 had greater
than 20 mg/kg total aflatoxins. Of whole peanut and maize samples
from the Nord Department, in contrast, 14% and 5%, respectively,
were contaminated in excess of that FDA regulatory limit. These
results further implicate Haitian peanuts and maize, particularly
peanut butters, as sources of aflatoxin exposure among the Haitian
people. Farmers and food processors in lesser-developed countries
such as Haiti need safe and efficacious alternative uses of
contaminated foods, and we examined the safety of ethanol
extraction to reduce aflatoxin in contaminated peanut oil. This
study showed that CL and 50% HPLC-grade ethanol were comparable
at extracting aflatoxins from the oil of highly contaminated peanuts. Aflatoxins were reduced by up to 94% using CL, a Haitian
spirit containing 50% ethanol that is obtainable even in remote
regions of Haiti where laboratory-grade solvents are unavailable or
too costly. After oil pressing and extraction, our data indicate that,
on average across a broad range of contamination rates, peanut oil
can be produced with only 0.5% of the aflatoxin concentrations
found in the peanuts before pressing. Our approach could be one of
multiple practices to re-direct contaminated foods to a safe, alternative
product in resource-limited countries. In areas where aflatoxin
contamination is high and poverty is widespread, further
exploration of simple and accessible alternative uses of tainted
foods will be essential in limiting exposure to aflatoxin.