Almonds: aflatoxin issues
October 1, 2025 at 11:32 AM ,
Der AUDITOR
Aflatoxin 3 times higher than permitted level
Not only is it impossible for Spanish producers to compete with cheap US imports but a recent notification concerning aflatoxin on the European Commission’s Rapid Alert System for Food and Feed (RASFF) has also added salt to injury as a report on the Spanish news site Agroinformacion highlights. On 22 September, the Netherlands posted an information notification for attention highlighting that the aflatoxin levels found in batches shipped from the USA exceeded the permitted limit nearly three times.
Company checks conducted on 10 June showed that aflaxtoxin B1 reached 16.6 µg/kg – ppb, which is twice as high as the permitted limit of 8.0 µg/kg – ppb. Another batch showed a test result of 13.3 µg/kg – ppb for total aflatoxins, which is also up on the limit of 10,0 µg/kg – ppb, and a third batch as much as 29.3 µg/kg – ppb, which is triple this amount. Fortunately, the products were not placed on the market and further measures will be taken in Hamburg, Germany. A total of six notifications concerning US almonds have been issued in the RASFF portal since 01 January 2025, three concerning aflatoxins, one concerning mycotoxins, one concerning salmonella and one concerning insects in shelled almonds.
For the Valencian Farmers Association AVA ASAJA these notifications are outrageous. In a statement highlighting that Spanish almonds face unfair competition as a 15% import tariff applies in the USA, whereas no additional tariffs apply for US almonds in the EU the repeated notifications show that US imports repeatedly fail to meet EU food safety standards. Chairman Cristóbal Aguado sees the most recent case from 22 September as a good reason for the EU to intensify controls on US almonds. He also emphasises that although Spanish almonds have the highest standard in terms of traceability, food safety and sustainability, they cannot be profitable if processors prefer cheap imports of lower quality.
Hot weather weighs on yields
Harvesting is, in addition, showing good progress in Valencia. Yet, a lack of rain along with hot weather in summer and hailstorms in several areas have left a dent on production. Expectation, nevertheless, is that production capacity will bounce back after several years of drought and will meet demand. According to AVA ASJA’s price observations all almond varieties climbed by around EUR 0.50/kg (USD 0.60/ kg) in Valencia in the week ending on 26 September. Guara almonds were trading at EUR 5.25-5.46/kg (USD 6.17-6.42/kg), Largueta almonds at EUR 5.20-5.55/kg (USD 6.11-6.52/kg) and Marcona almonds at EUR 5.75-6.05/kg (USD 6.76-7.11/kg)
For Spain as a whole the first harvest reports show disappointing yields due to the hot temperatures witnessed in summer and despite the rain in spring. Concern is also that last year’s drought has affected many trees. Silver lining, however, is that grower prices started off better than last year.
Exports 14% up
According to official figures in Spain exports climbed by 14% to 155,733 mt in 2024/2025 as compared with he 136,737 mt shipped in 2023/2024. This comprises 122,911 mt of kernels and 32,822 mt of manufactured almonds, mainly almond meal. Germany became the leading export destination in 2024/2025, followed by France and Italy.
|
Almond exports, Spain (mt) |
|||
|
Destination |
2023/24 |
2024/25 |
Diff |
|
Germany |
28,120 |
33,988 |
20.9% |
|
France |
32,082 |
33,243 |
3.6% |
|
Italy |
23,458 |
30,131 |
28.4% |
|
Netherlands |
5,507 |
8,549 |
55.2% |
|
Portugal |
6,708 |
5,826 |
-12.6% |
|
UK |
5,024 |
4,693 |
-6.6% |
|
Poland |
4,491 |
4,607 |
2.6% |
|
Belgium |
3,937 |
4,217 |
7.1% |
|
Egypt |
1,547 |
3,701 |
139.2% |
|
Turkey |
2,726 |
3,449 |
26.5% |
|
Others |
23,137 |
23,329 |
0.8% |
|
Total |
136,737 |
155,733 |
13.9% |
|
Ministry of Industry, Tourism and Trade, Spain, and AEOFRUSE |
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