EU mycotoxin limits and guidance values for animal feed (2026/1801)

Commission Recommendation (EU) 2026/1801 of 24 July 2026 was published in the Official Journal on 28 July 2026. From 1 July 2027 it replaces two texts: Recommendation 2006/576/EC, which covered deoxynivalenol, zearalenone, ochratoxin A and fumonisins, and Recommendation 2013/165/EU, which covered T-2 and HT-2 toxins.

Its values are to be taken into consideration from that date. One exception: those for the feed materials maize, sorghum, soybean and sunflower, and their products, apply from 1 October 2027 (point 9).

The Commission relies on the opinions and reports published by the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) since 2013, and on more recent occurrence data. It states that it is “highly recommended” not to exceed the values for complete feed, because they are based on the reference points for adverse effects on animal health (recital 12).

• Cereals are judged more strictly: 4.0 mg/kg of deoxynivalenol instead of 8; 1.0 of zearalenone instead of 2; 0.05 of ochratoxin A instead of 0.25.
• Feed materials that had no value now have one: depending on the mycotoxin, soybean, oil seeds and oil fruits, sugar beet products, lucerne, silages and forages.
• A general value for complete feed, for each of the five families, and specific values for species that had none for most mycotoxins: chickens for fattening and turkeys, equines, leporids, aquatic animals, fur animals.
• Lower values for pigs: 0.7 mg/kg of deoxynivalenol instead of 0.9; 1.0 of fumonisins instead of 5; 0.01 of ochratoxin A instead of 0.05.
• T-2 and HT-2 toxins change status: the 2013 “indicative levels”, which triggered an investigation into the causes, become guidance values like the others.
• Complementary feed is worked out: the value for complete feed applies, taking into account its share of the daily ration (point 4).

The basis. All the values are for a feed at 12% moisture. A result reported on the product as received is brought back to that basis before any comparison, and the unit is checked: 1 mg/kg (ppm) is 1,000 µg/kg (ppb).

Complementary feed. The value for complete feed applies, taking into account the proportion prescribed in the daily ration. Its value should not be higher than the one worked out from the values of its feed materials and their share of the feed (point 4).

Several mycotoxins at once. The Recommendation asks for samples to be analysed for the five families at the same time, so that their co-occurrence can be assessed (point 2).

Above a guidance value. The feed should be placed on the market or used only when precautionary measures protect animal health. The buyer is to receive clear information on the mycotoxin level. For complete feed, complementary feed or a feed material fed directly to animals, a risk assessment is expected, taking into account appropriate risk mitigation measures where necessary (points 5 and 6). The text names none of those measures, and no product.

Above the maximum level for aflatoxin B1. The product does not comply and may not be mixed with another to dilute it (Article 5 of the Directive). A detoxification process is accepted only if it meets the criteria of Regulation (EU) 2015/786 and EFSA has assessed it.

Upstream. The Recommendation asks that compound feed manufacturers be given sufficient information on the mycotoxin level of the feed materials they buy (point 7). A figure is only as good as the sample behind it: sampling matters as much as the analysis.

Where each mycotoxin comes from, in which raw materials, and what can be managed at the mill: that is the subject of the page Mycotoxins in animal feed. The category Feed safety and preservation places mycotoxins among the other risks to feed, moulds and oxidation.

Within the Union, these two texts are the reference in every Member State: the Directive, which applies through the national texts that transpose it, and the Recommendation, which is addressed to the Member States and, through them, to feed business operators and farmers.

Outside the Union, each country sets its own limits, sometimes for other mycotoxins, other species or on another basis. A feed is judged by the rule of the country where it is made and of the country where it is sold, and by the customer’s specification when that is stricter. This page copies no value from any other country: for a given market, tell us which one.