The presence of mold toxins is potentially the most serious quality
problem which faces producers, manufacturers, and handlers of food and
feed products. For many years, molds have been known to produce toxic
metabolites but their effects were largely ignored, thus mycotoxicoses have
been aptly called the neglected diseases. This situation has altered drastically
with the developments relative to the "Turkey X" disease which appeared
in England in 1960. The rapidity with which the cause was identified and
the responsible compounds isolated and characterized (with the un￾paralleled collaboration of specialists in diverse scientific disciplines,
utilizing the most advanced, powerful tools and techniques available), the
demonstration of aflatoxin Bx as an extremely potent carcinogen, the
possible significance in problems of animal and human health, and the
worldwide involvement focused intense attention upon mycotoxins.