A lot of mold found in Brazilian food has the gene needed to make a toxin called fumonisin — about 7 out of 10 samples — and sometimes it also has genes for another toxin, which means these molds could potentially produce harmful substances.

5

Pro

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Against

Evidence from Studies

Supporting (1)

5

Community contributions welcome

5

Data on the presence or absence of genes encoding essential proteins for ochratoxin and fumonisin biosynthesis in Aspergillus niger and Aspergillus welwitschiae

Cross-Sectional Study

In Vitro

2016 Jun

The study looked for a specific gene in mold from Brazilian food, and found it in 68.5% of samples, just like the claim says.

Contradicting (0)

0

Community contributions welcome

No contradicting evidence found

Gold Standard Evidence Needed

According to GRADE and EBM methodology, here is what ideal scientific evidence would look like to definitively prove or disprove this specific claim, ordered from strongest to weakest evidence.

Source Study

Data on the presence or absence of genes encoding essential proteins for ochratoxin and fumonisin biosynthesis in Aspergillus niger and Aspergillus welwitschiae

Score: 5

DOI: 10.1016/j.dib.2016.03.016

Similar Assertions

More than half of the black mold strains found in Brazilian food have a gene that could let them make a harmful toxin, but they're missing other genes—so they might only be able to make one type of that toxin.

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94%

About 1 in 6 mold strains found in Brazilian food can potentially make two different harmful toxins, based on their genes.

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About a third of certain mold strains found in Brazilian food don’t have the genes needed to make two harmful toxins, which means they probably don’t produce them.

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Some mold found in Brazilian food has the genes to make a harmful toxin called ochratoxin — about 1 in 30 of these molds could make it, but not another toxin, suggesting a small risky group we should watch.

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81%