Mycotoxins are deleterious fungal secondary metabolites that contaminate food and feed, thereby creating concerns regarding food safety. Common fungal genera can easily proliferate in Indian tropical and sub-tropical conditions, and scientific attention is warranted to curb its growth. To address this, two nodal governmental agencies, namely the Agricultural and Processed Food Products Export Development Authority (APEDA) and Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI), have developed and implemented analytical methods and quality control procedures to monitor mycotoxin levels in a range of food matrices and assess risks to human health over the past two decades. However, comprehensive information on such advancements in mycotoxin testing and issues in implementing these regulations is inadequately covered in recent literature. The aim of this review is thus to uphold a systematic picture of the role played by the FSSAI and APEDA for mycotoxin control at the domestic level and for the promotion of international trade along with certain challenges in dealing with mycotoxin monitoring. Additionally, it unfolds various regulatory concerns regarding mycotoxin mitigation in India. Overall, it provides valuable insights to the Indian farming community, food supply chain stakeholders, and researchers about India’s success story in arresting mycotoxins throughout the food supply chain.

Aflatoxins (AFs) contamination of cereals is considered one of the greatest food safety concerns worldwide. Occurrence of AFs in maize, wheat, rice and sorghum is highly prevalent with each commodity accounting for more than 10% of world’s AF exposure. Their occurrence as food contaminants is also associated with huge economic losses. AFs are highly stable compounds that cannot be eliminated by regular processing of grains. Hence, prevention of AFs in food and feed is now considered more important than the subsequent interventions to mitigate the deleterious health effects of AFs in human and animals. However, the development of an effective preventive strategy hinges on a clear understanding of the underlying factors influencing AFs production. Therefore, the present review aims to highlight the most significant factors influencing AFs contamination of cereals at pre-and post-harvest stages. This is crucial for effective monitoring of critical control points and optimisation of preventive strategies in food and feed supply chains. Several intrinsic and extrinsic factors have been reported of which nutritional composition, environmental factors (temperature, water activity and relative humidity) and climate change have been identified as primary factors, while pH of the substrate, carbon dioxide (CO2) levels in the gaseous environment, and agronomic and socioeconomic status are the main secondary factors promoting AFs biosynthesis in cereals. Additionally, an overview of global occurrence of AFs in cereals, with their health impacts and various preventive measures have also been highlighted.