Long‐term investigation and analysis of patulin occurrence in juice products in China

Summary Excessive patulin contamination in fruit juice products pose a significant risk to human health. However, there is a notable absence of a comprehensive and long‐term survey regarding the contamination of patulin in fruit juices within the Chinese market. The present study revealed a discernible decline in the patulin contamination levels, which were as follows: 60% (33/55), 18.28% (17/93), 0% (0/122), 15.58% (12/77), and 0% (0/63) at various survey time dates (2014, 2016, 2018, 2020, 2022). Among them, 18.18% (in 2014), 6.45% (in 2016), and 3.90% (in 2020) of samples exceeded the maximum limit concentration of 50 μg/L, respectively. Despite the presence of varying levels of patulin contamination, the average daily intake of patulin across all years did not present a discernible risk to human health. This investigation offers valuable insights for evaluating the extent of human exposure to patulin and establishing regulatory measures to ensure the safety of juice products.