Wheat and its products such as bread, biscuits, crackers and
pasta represent the main source of DON intake in children's diet in
the EU . Regarding mean exposure to DON, most of
the intakes for various population groups were below the TDI of
1 mg/kg bw. Considering high level exposures to DON, the TDI was
exceeded, in particular for the young children. For the age group of
13e18 years, exposure was close to the TDI. However consumption
data in certain countries, such as Italy, were lacking and a detailed
knowledge about baby food intake is also necessary. In children,
ingestion of heavily DON-contaminated food results in vomiting
within hours . In 1997e1998, approximately
1700 school children in the United States showed nausea, vomiting,
headache and abdominal cramps after eating burritos. Vomitoxin
was also identified as a contaminant in the burritos and might have
caused the outbreaks, which subsided within 24 h of onset (CDC,
1998). The DON dietary intake in the Netherlands exceeded the
JECFA PMTDI of 1 mg/kg bw, especially in children. Eighty percent of
the one-year-olds had a DON intake above the PMTDI, while at the
age of 4 years, this value was 50%. In wheat, an average value of
446 mg/kg was observed for DON contamination .