**Abstract**

Mycotoxins are secondary metabolites present in foods which can cause adverse effects on humans and animals. Therefore, developing a simple, effective, sensitive and validated analytical method to monitor mycotoxins is essential. Sample preparation is an important step in the analysis of mycotoxins and other contaminants from complex food matrices. Food industries in developed and developing countries have faced serious challenges with contamination of mycotoxins especially aflatoxin in food and feed products. Thus, corn and cereal-based foods are mostly affected right from pre and postharvest periods. Owing to the complexity and structural nature of mycotoxins in foods and feeds there is an urgent need for simple, effective and environmentally friendly methods of sample preparation for the detection and quantification of aflatoxins in food samples. The paper reviews the application of the Quick, Easy, Cheap, Effective, Rugged and Safe (QuEChERS) method for the analysis of aflatoxins in foods.

**Keywords:** aflatoxins, chromatographic analysis, GC/MS, LC/MS, QuEChERS, sample preparation
