Daily exposure of aflatoxin B₁ (AFB₁) was estimated in foods (rice, barley, soybean, peanut, soysauce, soybean paste) by ELISA (enzyme linked immunosorbent assay) using polyclonal antibody R_(101). Before ELISA, a simple extraction method was applied for the quantitation of AFB₁ in foods using chloroform which showed high recovery (70± 12%). AFB₁ levels in foods were 0.32 ng/ml (rice), 0.24 ng/ml (barley), 0.22 ng/ml (peanut), 0.30-0.78 ng/ml (soysauce), and 0.2 ng/ml (soybean paste). Based on food consumption, we estimated that Koreans were exposed to AFB₁ at the level of 1.86±0.46 ng/kg/day and liver cancer incidence attributed to AFB₁ exposure (assuming that AFB₁ as a single hepatocarcinogenic agent) might be calculated to be 13.1 per 100,000 population. Our data demonstrate that AFB₁ levels in foods were below the regulation of 10 ppb in foods and might not be the major risk factor for the high incidence of liver cancer in Korea.