A method and apparatus for detecting the presence of mycotoxins in cereals, the method including: capturing at least one diffuse-light absorption spectrum of a collection of cereal grains; capturing at least one diffuse-light absorption spectrum of at least one individual cereal grain from the collection of cereal grains; and classifying the level of mycotoxin contamination in at least one cereal grain by performing multivariate data analysis on the at least one diffuse-light absorption spectrum of the collection of cereal grains and the at least one diffuse-light absorption spectrum of the at least one individual cereal grain.