Incidents and potential adverse health effects of serious food fraud cases originated in Asia

Food fraud has long been regarded as a major issue within the food industry and is associated with serious economic and public health concerns. Economically motivated adulteration, the most common form of food fraud, has consequences for human health, ranging from mild to life-threatening conditions. Despite the potential harm and public health threats posed by food fraud, limited information on incidents causing illness has been reported. Enhancing the food control system on the Asian continent has become crucial for global health and trade considerations. Food fraud databases serve as valuable tools, assisting both the food industry and regulatory bodies in mitigating the vulnerabilities associated with fraudulent practices. However, the availability of accessible food fraud databases for Asian countries has been restricted. This review highlights detrimental food fraud cases originating in Asian countries, including sibutramine in dietary supplements, plasticizer contamination, gutter oil, and the adulteration of milk. This comprehensive analysis encompasses various facets, such as incident occurrences, adverse health effects, regulatory frameworks, and mitigation strategies

Effects of food gums and pre-drying on fat content of fabricated fried chips

© 2020 Institute of Food Science and Technology Deep-frying contributes to the unique taste and texture of fried products. However, they are low in nutritional value. Food industries actively trying to find ways to reduce the fat content while maintaining organoleptic properties of fried foods. In this work, effects of pre-drying and adding food gums on the moisture and fat contents of chips were evaluated. The chips were pre-dried for 60 and 90 min, and gellan gum, guar gum, methylcellulose and xanthan gum were added at the concentration of 0.25, 0.75, 1 and 2 % w/w. The xanthan gum was the most effective gum for fat reduction. The addition of 0.25 % w/w xanthan gum and at 90 min pre-drying reduced the fat content from 20 % (control) to 15 % w/w. The results also indicated that the reduction of moisture content after frying was not affected by the type of gums but the method of pre-drying

Effect of cultivar and processing on anti-nutritional factors and bioaccessibility of minerals of Australian sweet lupin (Lupinus angustifolius L.)

Australian sweet lupin (ASL) (Lupinus angustifolius L.) is an underutilised grain legume with a unique chemical composition. It contains high protein and dietary fibre and is a good source of vitamins, minerals and bioactive compounds. Due to various health benefits, there is an increasing interest in developing lupin incorporated functional foods. However, the presence of anti-nutritional factors is one of the reasons that limit commercial production of lupin based foods. Major anti-nutritional factors in lupin include raffinose family oligosaccharides (RFOs), phytate and polyphenols. Phytate and polyphenols have negative effects on the minerals bioavailability. RFOs also cause flatulence and abdominal discomfort. Published information on the anti-nutritional factors and mineral bioavailability of ASL is limited. The present study aimed at investigating the effect of cultivar, cultivation year and dehulling on mineral (calcium, iron, magnesium, potassium and zinc), anti-nutritional factors (RFOs, phytate, total phenolics, total flavonoids and condensed tannins) and mineral bioaccessibility (calcium, iron and zinc) of ASL. The relationships between minerals or anti-nutritional factors, and mineral bioaccessibility were also determined. Ten cultivars of ASL (Belara, Corumup, Gungurru, Jenabillup, Mandelup, PBA Barlock, PBA Gunyidi, Quilinock, Tanjil, and Walan 2385) cultivated at Wongan Hills Research Station in 2011, 2012 and 2013 were obtained from the Department of Agriculture and Food, Western Australia. Lupin samples were analysed for RFOs, phytate, total phenolics, total flavonoids, condensed tannins, calcium, iron, magnesium, potassium and zinc contents. Bioaccessibility of calcium, iron and zinc in heat treated lupin samples were determined using a dialysability method. The results showed that most of ASL cultivars are good sources of RFOs. Average total RFOs content in ASL (dehulled seeds) was 10.5 g/100 g DM which is higher than most of the other pulses such as black gram and mung bean. Phytate content in lupin is similar to some other pulses such as chickpea and mung bean but lower than kidney bean and soybean. ASL cultivars had low levels of total phenolics (< 100 mg GAE/100 g DM), total flavonoids (< 20 mg CE/100 g DM) and condensed tannins (< 80 mg CE/100 g DM). Dehulled seed of ASL contained relatively high amount of calcium (95 mg/100 g DM) and potassium (1120 mg/100 g DM). Iron (3 mg/100 g DM) and zinc (4 mg/100 g DM) contents in ASL (dehulled seed) were similar to some other grain legumes such as soybean and lentil. The results showed that cultivar has a significant influence on RFOs, phytate, total phenolics, total flavonoids, condensed tannins, calcium, iron, magnesium, potassium and zinc contents in lupin. Belara and Mandelup contain high levels of total RFOs and recommended for prebiotic rich functional food product development. Gungurru and PBA Barlock had low RFOs and suitable for lupin-enriched foods with low flatulence effect. PBA Barlock contained higher level of polyphenols and flavonoids than most of the other lupin cultivars. Walan 2385 has the highest condensed tannin content and high in flavonoids contents. The highest iron (3.2 mg/100 g DM) and zinc (3.8 mg/100 g DM) contents were found in Belara and Quilinock, respectively. Belara and Quilinock also contain high calcium contents. These findings on the effect of cultivar on anti-nutritional factors and minerals are helpful in selecting suitable cultivars for particular food applications. Lupin flour for food applications is commercially produced by the dry dehulling technique. Lupin flour can be incorporated into various foods. The effect of dry dehulling on iron, magnesium, zinc, RFOs, phytate, total phenolic and total flavonoid contents depends on the lupin cultivar. Dehulling increases condensed tannin and potassium contents in most lupin cultivars. Calcium contents in all lupin cultivars were reduced as a result of dehulling. Average calcium, iron and zinc bioaccessibility values of ASL (dehulled seeds) were 11, 21 and 12%. Calcium and zinc bioaccessibility values of lupin were poor and lower than some other grain legumes such as cowpea and mung bean. The low calcium and zinc bioaccessibility values indicate that these minerals may form large complexes which are difficult to be digested by the human digestive system. In contrast, iron bioaccessibility of ASL is higher than values reported for other pulses including red grams and black grams. Cultivar had a significant effect on calcium and iron bioaccessibility of lupin but had no effect on zinc bioaccessibility. PBA Gunyidi had higher calcium bioaccessibility than some of the other cultivars. High iron bioaccessibility values were found in Gungurru and Mandelup. Calcium bioaccessibility of most of the lupin cultivars were increased after dehulling. Phytate to calcium molar ratios of dehulled lupin samples present poor calcium bioavailability. All tested lupin cultivars had high phytate to iron molar ratios indicating poor iron bioavailability. High phytate to zinc molar ratios were recorded in almost all of the lupin samples implying poor zinc bioavailability. Although the phytate to mineral molar ratios are widely used as predictors of mineral bioavailability, the result of the study shows that the phytate to mineral molar ratio is not correlated to the mineral bioaccessibility of lupin. Therefore, the phytate to mineral molar ratio may be not a suitable predictor of the mineral bioaccessibility of lupin. Bioaccessibility was not directly related to calcium, iron or zinc contents of lupin which shows that high mineral content is not always related to high mineral bioaccessibility. Calcium content was negatively correlated to bioaccessibility of calcium of lupin. Results also showed negative trend between iron content and iron bioaccessibility as well as zinc content and zinc bioaccessibility. Poor correlations between minerals (calcium, iron and zinc) bioaccessibility values and anti-nutritional factors (RFOs, phytate, total phenolics, total flavonoids and condensed tannins) were found. This finding indicates that the anti-nutritional factors studied are not likely to significantly affect the minerals bioaccessibility of lupin. A stepwise multiple regressions were performed to develop predictive equations to predict mineral bioaccessibility using the minerals and anti-nutritional factors contents. A predictive equation using calcium, phytate and RFOs contents can predict 69% of the calcium bioaccessibility of lupin. Iron, calcium, RFOs and polyphenols contents can be used to predict 70% of the iron bioaccessibility of lupin. A regression equation using zinc, calcium and condensed tannin contents can estimate 59% of zinc bioaccessibility of lupin. These predictive equations indicate that there are other factors affecting the minerals bioaccessibility of lupin in addition to the factors studied

Risk assessment of exposure to benzoic acid and benzene from consumption of functional drinks

This study aims to determine content and conduct exposure assessments of benzene and benzoic acid in functional beverages. A total of 47 functional drink products were purchased from convenience stores in Bangkok, Thailand. Benzene and benzoic acid contents were determined by high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) and gas chromatography–mass spectrometry (GC–MS), respectively. Risk characterisations of exposures to benzoic acid were assessed by hazard quotient. Margin of exposure and cancer risk approaches were used for exposure assessment of benzene. The results showed that benzoic acid levels ranged from 74–229 mg L−1 complying with Thai food standards and the Codex Alimentarius. Benzene concentrations varied between 0.60–551 μg L−1, and 14 samples (30%) had concentrations above the limit of 10 μg L−1 recommended by World Health Organization. Regularly high consumption of vitamin C-enriched drinks containing benzoic acid results in high exposure to benzene with attendant cancer risk. To reduce health risks, drinks containing benzoic acid as a preservative should not be fortified with vitamin C

Effects of food gums and pre-drying on fat content of fabricated fried chips

Deep-frying contributes to the unique taste and texture of fried products. However, they are low in nutritional value. Food industries actively trying to find ways to reduce the fat content while maintaining organoleptic properties of fried foods. In this work, effects of pre-drying and adding food gums on the moisture and fat contents of chips were evaluated. The chips were pre-dried for 60 and 90 min, and gellan gum, guar gum, methylcellulose and xanthan gum were added at the concentration of 0.25, 0.75, 1 and 2 % w/w. The xanthan gum was the most effective gum for fat reduction. The addition of 0.25 % w/w xanthan gum and at 90 min pre-drying reduced the fat content from 20 % (control) to 15 % w/w. The results also indicated that the reduction of moisture content after frying was not affected by the type of gums but the method of pre-drying

Cultivation practice on nitrate, lead and cadmium contents of vegetables and potential health risks in children

Cultivation practices can affect chemical contaminant levels in vegetables. The objectives of this study were to determine nitrate, lead and cadmium contents in vegetables grown under different cultivation practices, and to evaluate the potential health risks of nitrate, lead and cadmium intake from vegetable consumption on children. Leafy vegetables especially those in the Brassicaceae family contained higher levels of nitrate, lead and cadmium than those of other vegetables. Nitrate contents of most leafy vegetables grown under organic and GAP cultivation were lower than those grown with conventional production. Lead and cadmium levels of most crops were similar for organic, GAP and conventional vegetables indicating that growing practice may not be the main factor influencing their presence on vegetables. Nitrate, lead and cadmium contents in vegetables grown in the Central Thailand did not exceed international standards assuring safe domestic consumption and allowing them to be competitive in international trade