An expert panel at the 2014 World Nutrition Forum will set the tone for emerging issues and critical research in the development of novel strategies to manage the global mycotoxin issue, according to event organizers.

• Professor Franz Berthiller of the Christian Doppler Laboratory for Mycotoxin Metabolism and Center for Analytical Chemistry at the Department for Agrobiotechnology IFA-Tulln will present an overview of the multiple methods of determination, with a focus on liquid chromatography–mass spectrometry (LC-MS), the most sensitive and potentially most accurate mycotoxin determination method to date.
• Dr. Betrand Grenier of Purdue University and the BIOMIN Research Center in Tulln will share research showing how even low doses of mycotoxins can increase animals’ susceptibility to diseases, in particular through the effects of mycotoxins on the gut and subsequent inhibition of immune responses.
• Professor James Pestka of the Center for Integrative Toxicology at Michigan State University and Dr. Siska Croubels of the Department of Pharmacology, Toxicology and Biochemistry at Ghent University will focus on deoxynivalenol (DON, vomitoxin) and Fusarium toxins. Pestka will highlight recent findings on the effects on the DON at the hormonal level, specifically through a mechanism of the enteroendocrine cell hormones that induces satiety in the gastrointestinal tract. Croubels will address the impact of Fusarium mycotoxins on poultry gut health by exploring the effects on the intestinal morphology and the barrier function.

The mycotoxin expert panel discussion will be held on October 17, 2014, and will be chaired by Dr. Gerd Schatzmayr, global research director of BIOMIN. The World Nutrition Forum is a premier scientific event organized by BIOMIN. The 6th World Nutrition Forum will take place October 15–18, 2014, in Munich, Germany.