Questions and answers on ergot alkaloids in cereal products
This version updates the version dated 12 November 2013 and has been revised throughout.
Ergot alkaloids are metabolites of certain fungi, e.g. Claviceps purpurea. Depending on the dose, these alkaloids can cause mild to severe health impairments. Investigations in Germany and the European Union have shown that rye products in particular, but also cereal products derived from other cereals, can contain high levels of ergot alkaloids: Depending on the cultivation and weather conditions in the respective harvest year, cereals can be increasingly infested with the permanent form of the fungus, the dark-coloured solid-walled sclerotia (ergot), which can then lead to increased ergot alkaloid levels in cereal products under unfavourable conditions. The BfR has compiled questions and answers on the health risk of ergot alkaloids in cereal products.