Estimate of zearalenone exposure through the intake of white and brown rice in the Korean population

Rice samples (n = 482) harvested for 2010–2012 in South Korea were analyzed for zearalenone content by high-performance liquid chromatography and fluorescence detection. The exposure of the Korean populations was assessed by a deterministic approach. Because the proportion of non-detectable results was >80% in white rice but less than <60% in brown rice, the zearalenone levels for white rice were reported as 0.52 µg kg⁻¹ as lower bound and 2.54 µg kg⁻¹ as upper bound, while for brown rice the middle bound value was 13.9 µg kg⁻¹. The average dietary intake of zearalenone from white and brown rice by the Korean population was estimated to be 1.5 ng kg⁻¹ body weight (bw) day⁻¹ each. For heavy consumers, the average intakes were 18.5 and 10.1 ng kg⁻¹ bw day⁻¹, respectively. The age groups with the highest zearalenone intake were 1–2-year-old children for white rice and 3–6-year-old children for brown rice. Overall, the dietary exposure of the Korean population to zearalenone from white and brown rice was found to be lower than the provisional maximum tolerable daily intake of 0.5 μg kg⁻¹ bw day⁻¹.