Survey of T-2 and HT-2 toxins by LC–MS/MS in oats and oat products from European oat mills in 2005–2009

T-2 and HT-2 toxins were analysed in oats (n = 243), oat flakes (n = 529), oat meal (n = 105) and oat by-products (n = 209) from 11 European mills during 2005–2009 by high-performance liquid chromatography with a triple quadrupole mass spectrometer. Limits of quantification were 5 µg kg−1 for both T-2 and HT-2 toxins in oats. The incidence of T-2 + HT-2 (>5 µg kg−1) in oats, oat flakes, oat meal and oat by-products was 93, 77, 34 and 99%, respectively. The mean values of T-2 + HT-2 were 94, 17, 11 and 293 µg kg−1 for oats, oat flakes, oat meal and oat by-products, respectively. T-2 and HT-2 occurred together and the T-2 level was 52% of HT-2 in oats. Maximal T-2 and HT-2 concentration in oat flakes and oat meal were 197 and 118 µg kg−1. The toxins were reduced by 82–88% during processing, but increased 3.1 times in oat by-products.