safeTEA: Community-Centered Food Safety for Real-World Constraints

Goal 2: End hunger, achieve food security and improved nutrition and promote sustainable agriculture

Overview:
The second United Nations Sustainable Development Goal aims to end hunger, achieve food security and improved nutrition, and promote sustainable agriculture. According to the UN, malnutrition affects children worldwide at alarming rates: among children under five, 148 million suffer from stunting, 45 million from wasting, and 37 million are overweight [1]. By 2030, an estimated 600 million people will face hunger without effective intervention [1].

The safeTEA aims to widen the distribution of safe food products, specifically those that are nutritionally rich, as multiple experts in the field have noted that there is a notable correlation between high aflatoxin exposure and poor diet quality, which contributes to nutritional deficiencies. Epidemiologist Dr. Yunyun Gong and aflatoxin researcher Dr. John Groopman both emphasized the link between chronic aflatoxin consumption and malnutrition, especially in children. With these insights, safeTEA wants to provide an intervention system that addresses not only contamination but malnutrition, food access, and cultural dietary practices as well.

Our project specifically targets:

• Target 2.1: End hunger and ensure access to safe, nutritious food
• Target 2.2: End all forms of malnutrition

safeTEA supports the achievement of Goal 2 by:

• Allowing for the recovery and safe consumption of contaminated foods that would otherwise be discarded
• Improving access to safe, nutritious foods that are important in critical developmental windows

In 2023, approximately 2.33 billion people faced moderate to severe food insecurity, with disparities most pronounced in developing countries where aflatoxin contamination is also most prevalent [2]. Aflatoxins pose a large threat to food security, adding to the already critical challenge of food insecurity in vulnerable regions. There is a high prevalence of aflatoxin contamination in food staples grown in resource constrained communities. This is a common theme for many other regions of the world such as South-East Asia, Central America, Sub Saharan Africa, and other tropical and subtropical regions as described by Dr. John Groopman’s experiences in our interview.

During our interview with public health specialist Dr. Eduardo Azziz-Baumgartner, he shared that during an aflatoxin outbreak, farmers often have to throw away a year’s worth of harvest due to the lack of on-site testing capabilities, which contributes to high global food waste and food insecurity. The necessity of food security was one of the greatest considerations when designing our project. safeTEA addresses the goal to end all hunger and ensure food security by allowing contaminated but nutritionally valuable foods to be filtered and consumed safely rather than discarded, directly increasing food availability in regions where every meal matters.

In our discussions with Gong and Groopman, malnutrition has been defined as insufficient nutrients that individuals receive from food. High aflatoxin exposure significantly overlaps with micronutrient deficiencies, which causes stunted growth and developmental delays. In low and middle-income countries (LMICs) [3], aflatoxins contaminate low protein staple foods (including cereals and starches). As incomes rise in LMICs, diets transition from starchy staples toward animal proteins. This shift is referred to as Bennet's Law [4]. However, current livestock production cannot sustainably meet increasing demand for high-quality protein, making alternative protein sources essential for closing the LMIC nutrient gap.

Both animal-based dairy milk (affected by aflatoxin M1) and plant-based milk alternatives (affected by aflatoxin B1) are nutrient-dense products that are likely to become dietary staples as these transitions occur. In infant health, Dr. Gong's research shows that early-life aflatoxin exposure causes irreversible developmental deficits, heightening malnutrition's long-term effects. In her research, Gong stated that breastfed infants are safest from Alfatoxin exposure compared to other foods, but once staple family foods get introduced into their diets, aflatoxin B1 in their blood titers increases. Breastmilk can provide many nutrients that are essential to infant nutrition [5], especially when access to infant formula is limited in resource constrained communities. Gong emphasized the importance of considering cultural sensitivity as we formulate a solution that can preserve the nutritional integrity of breast milk while still removing toxins. safeTEA is designed to filter aflatoxins from these critical protein sources, protecting nutritional value while preventing the growth stunting and developmental delays that perpetuate cycles of malnutrition. Given that the first six months of life has been identified as a key window of intervention for aflatoxin exposure, safeTEA provides a practical way for mothers to decontaminate breastmilk for their children.

Goal 3: Ensure healthy lives and promote well-being for all at all ages.

Overview: The third UN SDG aims to ensure healthy lives and promote well-being for all at all ages. Chronic exposure to aflatoxins can cause malnutrition, liver cancer, neurological issues and cripple the immune system, each of which can lead to death [6]. Acute exposure, which is defined as high AFB1 dosage over a short period of time, can lead to more severe effects including DNA damage, metabolic disorders, tissue necrosis, liver failure, which can also lead to death [6]. safeTEA directly addresses SDG 3 by removing toxic and carcinogenic aflatoxins from consumable products, which can prevent both acute poisoning and long term chronic health effects.

Our project aligns with three specific targets:

• Target 3.2: End preventable deaths of newborns and children under 5
• Target 3.9: Reduce deaths and illnesses from hazardous chemicals and pollution
• Target 3.d: Strengthen capacity for early warning and risk management

safeTEA supports the achievement of Goal 3 by:

• Protecting vulnerable populations during critical developmental stages by filtering out toxins from food sources while preserving essential nutrients critical for growth and development
• Designing a compostable system that can be reconfigured with alternative aptamers to detect and remove a range of food safety threats
• Building local capacity for health risk management through a system that can be produced and maintained independently by communities to support long-term resilience and early-warning systems for toxin exposure

Aflatoxin B1 is estimated to contaminate 60-80% of food globally, particularly corn, nuts, grains, and other staple foods [7]. AFB1 and its metabolite AFM1 also appear in mammalian milk products and human breast milk [8] when nursing mothers consume AFB1. Pregnant individuals exposed to AFB1 face increased risks of anemia, premature delivery, miscarriage, and stillbirth [9]. Dr. Groopman, a clinical researcher who was one of the first to report on aflatoxin’s presence and toxicity, noted that in infants and young children under 5, he has seen chronic AFB1 exposure cause developmental delays, hormone imbalances, and stunted growth. Additionally, these ailments prove difficult to recover from once they occur, as his research has shown that children exposed early in life typically fall between –1 and –2 z-scores for height and weight; while modest recovery is sometimes observed after six months, they rarely achieve median growth benchmarks.

We spoke with public health expert and epidemiologist Dr. Yunyun Gong, whose research reveals a critical exposure pattern and intervention point: breastfed infants have the lowest AFB1 exposure during the first six months. She noted that once children transition to solid family foods, their blood aflatoxin levels spike dramatically, plateauing around age three to the general concentration levels consistent with the population. Both Dr. Gong and Dr. Groopman emphasized that aflatoxin exposure compounds existing malnutrition, a condition causing 45% of all deaths in children under five (approximately 5 million annually) [10]. This presents a complex challenge: while AFB1 and AFM1 in milk products pose risks, these foods provide essential nutrition for child development, particularly in resource-constrained communities where malnutrition is already prevalent. Simply removing contaminated foods from the diet worsens nutritional deficiencies.

Given our conversations with public health experts, doctors, and epidemiologists, we identified a critical window for intervention in aflatoxin exposure to promote healthy development in children. safeTEA addresses this goal by selectively removing only aflatoxins while preserving essential nutritional content such as proteins, vitamins, and minerals. This targeted approach can be extended beyond aflatoxins to other toxins through the integration of alternative aptamer constructs within our system. In doing so, we aim to support healthy development in children at heightened risk of malnutrition while preserving the essential nutrients their growing bodies require.

Long term aflatoxin exposure can lead to liver cancer, the 5th most common type of cancer worldwide [11]. The majority of these cases happen in Central America and areas where Hepatitis B and other immune system disorders are common [12]. We interviewed Dr. Eduardo Azziz-Baumgartner, who has studied the direct effects of aflatoxin exposure in the Central Americas. He mentioned that in many of the communities he worked with who had suffered aflatoxin outbreaks, many patients did not survive. Chronic cases of aflatoxin exposure over decades of consumption lead to liver damage and cancer, but even acute outbreak cases can cause nausea, vomiting, abdominal pain, acute convulsions and death [13].

Regulatory frameworks for aflatoxins vary widely between countries and regions. The EU restricts aflatoxin concentration to 10 μg/kg, while the US permits 20 μg/kg [14]. Only 120 countries have aflatoxin legislation, and even fewer have resources to enforce these standards. Our stakeholder discussion with almond processing plant RPAC highlighted how these regulatory differences affect international trade and create inconsistencies in consumer protection. Dr. Groopman emphasized the need for solutions that account for community needs and build better infrastructure rather than relying solely on regulation. safeTEA holds the potential to operate at both manufacturing and household levels, creating multiple layers of protection regardless of regulatory enforcement capacity. Our aptamer-based platform can be redesigned to target other mycotoxins, expanding protection against multiple hazardous compounds.

In our discussions with Dr. Gong, we learned that if we want to make an accessible solution, it must take into account whether it is field deployable. Gong provided insight into the intense need for easily accessible testing methods for early warning of AFB1 toxicity. Managing risk of aflatoxin exposure is difficult, especially for countries with limited resources and little to no enforcement of aflatoxin concentration restrictions. Gong further explained that in her research in several countries in Africa, they could not get many samples for their data due to the lack of testing systems in place. She mentioned that in their research they were conducting ELISA assays on blood samples, which they had to send to other countries for processing. Gong labeled specific community outbreak examples, Tanzania in 2016 and Kenya in 2004, who had death tolls reach into the hundreds due to the lack of accessible early warning technology. Dr. Gong also commented that having quicker field-deployable methods of tracking AFB1 exposure could save hundreds of lives during AFB1 outbreaks.

Our conversations drove our team into brainstorming future design applications for safeTEA. We developed a reusable, field-deployable system usable in both industrial and community settings. Our renewable aptamer production method using plasmid-based bacterial cultures enables sustainable, local generation of detection and filtration materials without dependency on imported reagents or regulatory support. The cellulose-based filter is compatible with locally available materials like coffee filters, paper towels, and cotton textiles, making it accessible and culturally adaptable. Communities can implement and maintain the system independently, building local capacity for risk management regardless of specialized infrastructure. To ensure our technology delivers long-term benefits, we look to expand safeTEA’s function toward detection through developing accessible biomarker-based tools that empower communities to monitor their own progress in reducing toxin exposure.

Goal 10: Reduce inequality within and among countries

Overview: The tenth UN SDG aims to reduce inequality within and among countries. Aflatoxin contamination is fundamentally an inequity issue. It disproportionately affects low-income communities in developing countries while remaining nearly nondetectable in developed nations. In the 1999-2000 National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES), a cross-sectional survey of the United States population, only 1% of a subset of individuals had detectable levels of AFB1-lysine biomarkers in their blood [15]. In contrast, Dr. Gong stated in our interview that the majority of children in Africa test positively for AFB1-lysine biomarkers in their blood within their first years of life. These disparities highlight the urgent need for an intervention.

Our project aligns with the specific target of:

• Target 10.3: Ensure equal opportunity and reduce inequity of outcome

Our project addresses these goals by:

• Reducing inequity of outcome by providing accessible, field-deployable food safety technology that can enable both industrial facilities and individual households to remove toxins from contaminated products

Developing countries often have weaker aflatoxin regulations and enforcement compared to industrialized nations. In wealthier countries, aflatoxin contamination primarily impacts the economy through trade restrictions and product recalls, while in lower-income nations, it directly threatens public health. This disparity is compounded by the higher prevalence of Hepatitis B Virus (HBV) in many developing regions [16]. The combined effect between HBV and aflatoxin exposure dramatically increases liver cancer risk, making contamination far more dangerous in these populations than in HBV-low industrialized countries [16].

Global food trade has intensified these inequities. Dr. Felicia Wu and Dr. Hasan Guclu, experts in food safety and risk assessment, identified three main economic losses: exporting high-quality foods while retaining contaminated products for domestic consumption, rejection of exports that exceed importing nations' tolerance limits (resulting in millions of dollars in losses), and the direct cost of rejected shipments. Paradoxically, while stricter aflatoxin standards in wealthy importing countries would not yield a detectable decrease in cancer risk, given their low HBV prevalence, they exacerbate global health inequities. Instead, these heightened regulations shift the toxic burden onto food-exporting regions with elevated HBV incidence, such as China, Southeast Asia, and sub-Saharan Africa, where contaminated products are more likely to be consumed domestically and or result in economic loss from rejected exports.

Dr. John Groopman, a renowned cancer biomarker biologist and field researcher, emphasized that the highest aflatoxin exposure comes from locally grown staple crops, not imported foods. This means that international trade policies, while economically significant, do not address the primary source of exposure for vulnerable populations. He stressed that effective intervention requires working at the lowest possible technological level to reach the most people, rather than relying on regulatory frameworks that many affected regions cannot implement or enforce. In our conversation with Dr. Yun Yun Gong, a professor and researcher in Food Safety and Global Health at the University of Leeds, she noted exposure starts young with 96% of African children in the populations that she worked with testing positive for a lysine-AFB1 biomarker but the biomarkers are usually undetectable in children from America and Europe. Dr. Gong highlights the stark geographic disparities and the detrimental effects of chronic low-level exposure in regions with more stringent regulations for aflatoxin contamination. Childhood aflatoxin exposure is negatively associated with child growth outcomes later in life. For more from our interviews with Dr. Groopman and Dr. Gong, please see our Integrated Human Practices page.

We set out to create an at-home solution to decontaminate liquid consumables that would not require large amounts of infrastructure to sustain our intervention, nor a large shift in policy. Our plasmid-based aptamer system can easily be grown and distributed around the world to be used for products that do not meet standards to be exported and instead end up in local food systems. By enabling safe use rather than reliance on restrictive export standards, safeTEA helps prevent contaminated foods from simply being redirected to those with fewer protections. An at-home approach ensures the communities most affected by aflatoxin exposure have similar capacity to protect their health as those with advanced laboratory infrastructure, strict regulations, and a rich importing economy.

Goal 12: Ensure sustainable consumption and production patterns

Overview: SDG 12 focuses on ensuring responsible consumption and production patterns throughout the entire supply chain. Currently, 13% of global food is lost during harvesting, transport, storage, and processing, while an additional 19% is wasted at the consumer level through households, grocery stores, and restaurants [17]. Aflatoxin contamination significantly contributes to these losses, which forces farmers to discard entire harvests, leading to limited access to nutritious foods in resource-constrained regions. Contaminated agricultural byproducts also end up being used as livestock feed, which leads to further contamination in the food chain. Our project directly addresses SDG 12 by allowing for the safe recovery of contaminated products that would otherwise be wasted. We aim to promote sustainable resource management through designing our project with biodegradable and reusable materials, as well as building local capacity for food safety interventions in developing countries.

Our project specifically targets:

• Target 12.2: Sustainable Management and Efficient Use of Natural Resources
• Target 12.3: Reduce Food Waste and Losses Along Production Chains
• Target 12.5: Substantially Reduce Waste Generation Through Prevention and Reuse
• Target 12.a: Support Developing Countries' Scientific and Technological Capacity

safeTEA supports the achievement of Goal 12 by:

• Conserving natural resources by allowing contaminated agricultural products to be purified rather than discarded
• Preventing food loss across supply chains by providing filtration technology that removes mycotoxins while preserving nutritional value
• Providing a biodegradable method of decontamination that relies on composting as a safe disposal method
• Building local technological capacities that match communities' resources and capabilities instead of creating dependency on complex infrastructure

Achieving sustainable management and efficient use of natural resources requires industries to minimize waste of essential inputs such as water, land, labor, and soil by improving production efficiency and reducing losses. In agriculture, every discarded product represents a direct loss of the natural resources used to produce it. For example, each almond grown in California requires approximately 12 liters of water, meaning 100 almonds consume about 1,200 liters of water and roughly 0.6 square meters of agricultural land [18]. During our visit to RPAC Almonds factory in Los Banos, California, we learned that when crops test positive for mycotoxins such as aflatoxin B1, they are re-sorted and discarded to ensure consumer safety. However, this also means that all the water, land, fertilizer, labor, and energy invested in their cultivation are lost. safeTEA directly addresses this issue by allowing for contaminated aqueous products, such as almond milk, to be reprocessed and purified rather than discarded. Our project’s aptamer-based filtration mechanism removes harmful mycotoxins while preserving the product's nutritional value. This prevents unnecessary loss of agricultural resources and allows producers to recover value from products that would otherwise contribute to waste. In resource-constrained communities, where access to clean water and food may already be limited, the ability to purify rather than discard contaminated produce is even more important. By making existing agricultural products more usable, safeTEA helps reduce the waste of scarce resources, therefore making sustainable consumption more accessible.

Halving per capita global food waste at consumer levels while reducing losses along production and supply chains represents a critical challenge for sustainable food systems. Sustainable food systems depend on the challenge of halving global food waste at the consumer level, while also reducing food losses through production and supply chains. Globally, approximately 13% of food is lost during supply chains and another 17% wasted at the consumer level, resulting in massive economic and environmental losses [19].

In March 2025, S. Martinelli & Co. recalled approximately 7,234 cases of apple juice due to potential patulin contamination [20]. During our visit to their facility in Watsonville, California, we learned that Martinelli's, like many agricultural producers, relies on random batch sampling to detect contamination. When a sample tests positive for mycotoxins, the entire batch is discarded, even if most of the product is safe. While this approach ensures consumer safety, it results in large-scale post-harvest and production-level food loss.

safeTEA addresses these losses by introducing an aptamer-based filtration system capable of binding and removing mycotoxins from aqueous food products such as milk and juice. Although safeTEA was developed to remove aflatoxin B1, its design allows substitution of aptamers to retarget other mycotoxins, enabling broad adaptability. This ultimately allows producers to purify and reclaim product safely for distribution instead of discarding contaminated liquids. This directly reduces waste in both post-harvest processing and consumer product recalls, conserving resources, improving producer efficiency, and preventing food from being unnecessarily lost.

Substantially reducing waste generation requires designing processes and materials that prevent waste creation rather than relying solely on downstream disposal. Globally, over 100 billion tons of natural resources are extracted per year, but only 9% are recycled or reused, meaning that the majority of materials ultimately become waste rather than returning to the production cycle [21]. Dr. Eduardo Azziz-Baumgartner, a public health physician experienced in managing aflatoxicosis outbreaks, described how farmers in Central America were forced to burn entire harvests during severe contamination events due to a lack of reliable on-site decontamination options. This led to catastrophic waste, not only of the crops themselves, but of all the soil, water, energy, and labor invested in their production. safeTEA upcycles this waste by allowing for contaminated products to be purified rather than destroyed, which addresses the problem before disposal becomes needed.

​​In agricultural and food production, sustainable material design is important to center in this challenge. Biodegradable and compostable filtration systems made from cellulose or other plant-based materials can provide more sustainable alternatives to conventional filters composed of plastic, fiberglass, or synthetic fabrics, which persist in the environment and contribute to long-term pollution [22]. By using renewable components, safeTEA avoids waste since its materials can safely return to the environment rather than act as pollutants.

Traditional mycotoxin remediation often uses organic solvents, acids, bases, or heavy reagents that create hazardous secondary waste streams. safeTEA's aptamer-based binding and filtration approach is chemically mild, requiring no large volumes of solvents or harsh reagents, thus avoiding chemical byproducts requiring disposal. After binding and removing aflatoxin B1, the residual system and bound toxin can be handled as lower-risk waste. Research shows that AFB1 degrades in soil with a half-life of less than 5 days, significantly faster than other toxin removal options [23]. safeTEA also functions without cold storage, refrigeration, or highly controlled environments, making it accessible in resource-constrained communities. Because the system uses low-energy biological processes and biodegradable materials, it avoids creating high-tech waste disposal burdens in communities with limited waste management infrastructure.

Building scientific and technological capacity in developing countries is essential for enabling sustainable consumption and production patterns globally. safeTEA contributes to this goal by providing a simple, low-cost technology for removing aflatoxins from food products. Traditional testing and removal methods require specialized laboratories, cold storage, and expensive equipment, resources often unavailable in the regions most affected by contamination [24].

In a conversation with Dr. John Groopman, we learned how much of an impact accessible solutions like safeTEA make. Dr. Groopman’s research shows that aflatoxin exposure begins before birth and affects young children most severely. This contributes to stunted growth, developmental delays, weakened immune systems, and increased liver cancer risk later in life. In regions such as Guatemala, Bangladesh, and Kenya, most individuals in these populations had measurable aflatoxin exposure. However, rapid testing and mitigation methods are still inaccessible. Dr. Groopman emphasized that interventions are most effective when they work at the lower technological level, meaning that they are able to reach most people. safeTEA fits this emphasis with its aptamer-based filtration system, which can be used directly by households or small producers without the need for specialized equipment. By making this solution accessible, safeTEA enables communities to strengthen local food safety, cut down on waste, and adopt more sustainable practices that don’t depend on complex systems.

Goal 13: Take urgent action to combat climate change and its impacts

Overview: The year 2024 was the hottest on record so far [25]. As global temperatures continue to rise and weather patterns grow increasingly more extreme, conditions that favor fungal growth, and therefore aflatoxin production, are spreading into new regions and worsening in those already affected. Without adequate prevention and preparation, climate change will continue to exacerbate food safety challenges. In areas already burdened by drought and natural disasters, it is crucial to help those communities adapt and build resilience.

We aim to do this thorough addressing:

• Target 13.1: Strengthen resilience and adaptive capacity to climate-related hazards and natural disasters

We aim to address this goal by:

• Providing communities with accessible technology that allows for detection and mitigation of climate-driven food safety threats

The relationship between climate change and increased aflatoxin prevalence poses a significant health hazard. Unhealthy exposure rates to aflatoxin are prevalent especially in countries affected by drought and fluctuating weather conditions. Climate driven fluctuations in temperature, humidity, and precipitation patterns foster the growth and production of aflatoxins by the Aspergillus species [26].

In California, aflatoxin contamination in tree nuts has risen sharply, greatly impacting one of the largest agricultural industries in the country. Outside of the United States, in countries such as China and India, rice and spices, staples in daily diets, are similarly contaminated with aflatoxins [27]. The economic and public health burden of contaminated food products is already substantial and will only continue to grow with intensifying climate extremes, posing serious threats to both public health and food security.

In many developing countries, food and feed regulation remains limited, particularly regarding monitoring of aflatoxin M1 (AFM1) in dairy products. In a study conducted across four major regions of Bangladesh, AFM1 was detected in 78.6% of milk and milk products, with 32.4% exceeding EU safety limits [28]. AFM1 contamination occurs when livestock consume feed made from aflatoxin B1 contaminated crops or byproducts, allowing the toxin to be metabolized and secreted into milk. As climate change progresses, the prevalence of AFM1 and other mycotoxins is expected to rise further. Therefore, proactive intervention is needed across both developed and developing nations to prevent declines in public health and mitigate severe economic losses. This is critical to be able to avoid the potential hazards for food safety that come with climate change. In response, we developed safeTEA to provide a novel method to empower communities with the ability to take food safety into their own hands and strengthen adaptive capacity to climate-related hazards.