The purpose of this survey was to evaluate the natural occurrence and content of aflatoxin M1 (AFM1), in buffalo milk samples. During June to December 2012, 90 samples were collected from North West region of Iran. AFM1 contents were determined by the competitive enzyme-linked imunosorbent assay (ELISA) technique. AFM1 was found in 54.4% of the samples by average concentration of 38.5±5.12 ng/L. The concentration of AFM1 in all of the samples were lower than Iranian national standard and FDA limit (500 ng/L), but in 16.3% of milk samples was higher than maximum tolerance limit accepted by European Union/Codex Alimentarius Commission (50 ng/L). The level of contamination in winter milk samples was significantly (P <0.05) higher than in summer milk samples. The results indicated that the contamination of the samples with AFM1 in such a level could be a serious public health problem at the moment.
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