Mycotoxins cause diverse toxic effects on animals and for this reason, it is important to adopt good management and control practices to reduce their impact. These practices include correct sampling, fast and reliable analysis methods and taking appropriate measures based on the results. Sampling is one of the most crucial, but underestimated parts of the detection. Mycotoxins are not distributed homogeneously in the raw materials. Therefore, if representative samples are not taken from different parts of the bulk, the results will very possibly be negative for mycotoxins, generating a false sense of security.

Another important point to keep in mind is the simultaneous presence of various mycotoxins in the raw materials. The presence of multiple mycotoxins can generate additive or synergistic effects, making the negative effect on health and production bigger than the sum of the individual effects. In addition, chronic exposure to low concentrations of mycotoxins results in non-specific symptoms which are difficult to track-and-trace down to mycotoxins. Consequently, the ingestion of multiple low-dose mycotoxins can result in more severe negative effects on animal performance and larger economic losses than an acute toxic dose.

Modified mycotoxins are derivatives of mycotoxins produced by fungi or formed by infected plants as part of their defense mechanism. In addition, the formation of these derivatives can also occur by feed production processes and by microbial metabolism. Once ingested with the feed, the modified mycotoxin can be reconverted to the parent toxin by the microbiota and metabolism of the animal.  Modified mycotoxins often exhibit a similar toxicity as their parent toxins, but can also be less or even more toxic than their parent toxin.  Modified mycotoxins are problematic as they are hidden from many analytical detection methods, leading to an underestimation of the contamination level of the feed.