Food Safety Issues of Street-Vended Foods
Ilaria Proietti, January, 7, 2011
Street-vended foods (or street foods) are becoming an indispensable component of the food system in many cities of developing countries, increasingly emphasized by the rapid urbanization process, and significantly contribute to the food security of people who rely on their daily and widespread availability. Street foods represent, indeed, a regular source of income for million of sellers, local producers and processors, but also contribute to national economic growth: in Zambia street food sales have an annual turnover of US $100 million and employ around 16,000 people (mostly female with minimal education), and in Mexico generate around 12.7% of the Gross National Product and employ 28.5% of the national labour force. Due to their easy accessibility and diversified supply of meals, street foods also represent an inexpensive and accessible means for low income communities of meeting their basic nutritional needs: in Africa, for example, street alimentation enables 80% of urban populations to feed themselves easily and at lower prices and represents around 40% of the expenditure of their food budget. Despite the nutritional, social and economic benefits that may originate from it, the selling of street foods raises serious concerns for the health of urban population. The major concern is related to food safety, in particular due to biological agents and chemical substances in food products presented to the public. Over the years, the microbiological hazards have been deeply examined, though proper management and communication require further efforts; on the other hand, a lot still needs to be clarified about chemical/toxicological hazards and, in particular, on the measures that can be taken in order to prevent them or reduce the probability of their occurrence. A framework is needed for risk analysis of widespread products of street foods as meat, fish, cereals, nuts and water, in order to: identify the main chemical hazards; assess the likelihood of significant exposures under credible consumption patterns; characterize the toxicological risks for the general population. Starting from the intrinsic vulnerability of the mentioned food matrices to different chemicals, points of particular attention should be considered in order to produce recommendations addressed to the food vendors, thus protecting the healthy and social value of their goods. For instance: Area of vending. Since street food stalls are mainly placed in the most congested streets, close to manufacturing activities, bus/train stations, etc., foods and water are often exposed to several airborne chemicals, such as heavy metals, dioxins, polycyclic hydrocarbons and particulates. Selection of raw materials. Organic and inorganic pollutants, for instance, have different lipophilicity, thus implicating different accumulation patterns depending on the food composition. Storage. Inadequate temperature, time, moisture and storage facilities encourage the growth of mycotoxin producing fungi in numerous raw materials, mainly cereals, dry fruits, spices, coffee and cocoa. Food processing and cooking practices. Anti-nutritional factors in foods can be reduced by adequate processing and, consequently, bioavailability of nutrients will increase: e.g., the augmented bioavailability of iron and zinc and the digestibility of proteins in sorghum. The occurrence in foods of carcinogenic polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons is strictly correlated to specific food processing, such as smoking, broiling, roasting and frying. Cooking tools. Inappropriate cookware, food containers and packaging and kitchen utensils used for and during the preparation, cooking, and serving, as well as the storage of food and raw materials, may determine the leaching of heavy metals and other chemicals in the food. Cleaning practices. The excessive or wrong use of insecticides and cleaning agents in the vending sites may determine the laying down of chemicals directly on the surface of the foodstuffs.
Numerous improper habits and practices carried out by the street food vendors can lead to toxicant exposures with long-term or transgenerational effects; however, these can be mitigated by the implementation of street food-targeted good practices. The quality of the street foods sector needs improvement in order to reduce the risks for food safety while maintaining the food security value.
Plastics Baby bottles sold in Cameroon: are they labeled ‘’Bisphenol free’’?
Guy Bertrand Pouokam, September, 20, 2010
Bisphenol A (BPA) is a widely used chemical in polycarbonate plastic and epoxy resins, also used in food contact materials, leading to potential consumer exposure through food. A very large number of publications on the toxicity and endocrine activity of BPA in animals have been published. There have been considerable discrepancies in outcome among these studies, both with respect to the nature of the effects observed and, where reported, the levels at which they occur. It is notable that the effects in some of the research studies were described at dose levels several orders of magnitude below those at which effects were reported in the standard guideline (regulatory) studies following OECD test guidelines. This has led to controversy about the safety of BPA in the scientific community and has resulted in different risk management decisions taken by national authorities. The issue has also received much attention in the media and in the general
Infant bottles are sold in pharmacy and common shops near hospitals and in open markets. Many types of bottles proposed to population are imported from different countries and by different manufacturers.
We made a preliminary investigation to see whether sold baby bottles were labeled “Bisphenol A free’’.
A total of 32 pharmacies and 18 shops in 3 cities were visited: Foumbot and Bafoussam in the West region and Yaoundé in the Center region.
From our findings, only two types of plastic baby bottles are sold in pharmacy, one of them carried the labeled “Bisphenol free’’ ( the majority) and the prices was almost the same (3500–3700 fcfa, i.e. 5 € depending on the city around).
None of the bottles found in shops carried the label “Bisphenol A free’’ instead we could read ‘’ No Nitrosamine’’ and were made of polycarbonate. All these bottles came from different manufacturers and countries; the prices ranges from 900 to 1500 fcfa depending on the purchase place, i.e. around 1.5 to 2.2 €, almost four times cheapest than the one found in pharmacy.
Due to their low economic income and lack of communication on the possible risk from the plastic bottles people mostly purchase cheapest bottles, i.e. non label Bisphenol A free.
Therefore, there is a real risk of infant contamination to Bisphenol A. In addition, cumulative exposure of infants to Bisphenol A could be of interest and need more attention.It was noticed also that people working in these drugs store themselves were not aware of the issues of risk related to BPA from plastics. The possible justification could be that they are not trained pharmacist but only sellers. There is a great need to start communication campaign on risks related to BPA towards all the stakeholders.
The water disaster in the Niger Delta, Nigeria
June, 11, 2010
Protecting drinking-water resources is a key factor in preventing health effects: waterborne disease might claim both infectious and toxic exposure, thus contributing the onset of severe diseases.
In Nigeria it is estimated that water supply and sanitation cover only 48% of the inhabitants of the urban and semi urban areas and 39% of rural areas.
In particular, the Niger Delta region constitutes one of the larger wetlands in the world; this area has environmental relevance for the abundance and variety of its flora and fauna, but is also an area highly exposed to degradation due to its economical worth attributable to numerous industrial activities, the most important of them being crude oil and natural gas extraction often scantly sustainable from the point of view of environment and health.
Even though the assessment of water is worldwide acknowledged as very crucial to safeguard public health and the environment, in developing nation like Nigeria, however, such attention is scanty and uncoordinated, if ever found.
The Nigerian government has been urged to declare the oil-rich Niger Delta a disaster zone and deploy an emergency water supply network immediately to the area to develop the nation's vast surface and groundwater resources.
What is undoubted is the huge need for immediate collective intervention to face the safe water supply deficiency in the Niger Delta and the unfair distribution of wealth. Social development and environmental protection should actually be part of the long-term benefits rendered to the communities. Social justice re-establishment is the only chance to see lasting peace and harmony in this region, which has been restive for over a decade with attendant economic backlash both on the people and Nigeria as a whole
Fast foods and health dangers in Nigeria
February, 26, 2010
In the last decade, the significant increase in obesity, certain types of diabetes and related heart diseases in Nigeria has raised critical issues related to fast foods, their high fat content, calories and possibly poisoning and hygiene related issues. Stemming from urbanization, and the associated changed nature of work and family life, the Nigerian explosion in the number of the retail outlets of fast foods (from mama puts, roadside cafes to suya sellers) requires the pro-activeness by the National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC) and the state and local council health services.
In fact, apart from the label of street food vendors/hawkers or operators of 'quick service restaurants', more severe and rigorous registration process to entry the food business, as well as the development of monitoring infrastructure need implementation nationwide. Standard operating best practices and self-monitoring plans should cover raw materials and ingredients (water included) and food handling, cooking, production, transport and preservation across the entire food supply chains.
Orish Ebere Orisakwe, 27 January 2010 Download
The 2009 World breastfeeding week in Ghana: the importance of communication at the community level in improving feeding behaviors
Christian K. Adokoh, 25 January 2010
The festival for the 2009 World Breastfeeding Week which took place from August 12 2009 in Wale wale (Northern Region of Ghana), was a seven-day program devoted to encouraging mothers to early and exclusively breastfeed their babies so as to promote child health, growth and development.The festival also highlighted the strides the LINKAGES project (http://www.linkagesproject.org/) has made in increasing Ghana’s exclusive breastfeeding rates: the most recent report indicates that the rate of exclusive breastfeeding in Ghana increased from 68% in 2000 to 79% in 2003. The project identified several common problems: throwing away colostrum, the highly nutritious first milk a mother produces, was a common practice in Ghana. Also, many mothers gave their infants water to drink in addition to their breast milk: this is particularly dangerous because of the many possible waterborne diseases in the area. Networking in the area was crucial to make the program a success by reaching as many people in as many different ways; in its turn, this was achieved by finding a whole host of different partners such as non-governmental organizations, Ghana Red Cross Society and local radio stations to define the overall communications strategy. Participants wanted the tone of all materials to be emotional, encouraging, and positive. They turned the messages into informative and creative materials -drama, songs, stories, radio spots, story cards, and counselling cards- and learned how to test the messages and materials in focus group discussions. Local artists who attended the workshop prepared draft illustrations for the counselling cards and flip charts. Community members and workshop participants served as models for photographs taken with disposable cameras. The communication strategy identified the following channels for delivering the messages: print, song, theatre, radio, home visits, group meetings, and village festivals. At the end of the workshop, participants had their creative briefs and copies of materials tailored to appeal to audiences in northern Ghana and to address specific child feeding problems in the region. Specific examples of creative brief were:
- “You are wise” Grandmothers were praised,
- “You can learn and be a custodian of good breastfeeding practices” Mothers were encouraged to put
the baby to the breast immediately and to give only breast milk for six months; they were helped in
position their babies correctly so that they can suckle well and get all the nourishment they need to
grow strong and healthy,
- Grandmothers appealed to support good breastfeeding because they desire strong, healthy
grandchildren.
Participants volunteered to test such materials in their communities where 53% of mothers, 39% of grandmothers and 37% of fathers reported having been exposed to Ghana Health Service/LINKAGES print materials on breastfeeding or child feeding. Radio listening is very high in the partner districts, with 75% of mothers, 72% of grandmothers, and 88% of fathers stating that they listen to the radio. Of radio listeners, 96% of mothers, 97% of grandmothers, and 99% of fathers reported that they had heard messages on breastfeeding or child feeding (http://www.linkagesproject.org/).
LINKAGES created a pre-service program for instructors at 51 different training institutions in all ten regions of the country to sustain the application of the most up-to-date and practical information available on infant and young child feeding in the future. Participation from the government leaders was also critical in ensuring the continued success of the program as well.
Harmonisation of toxicology issues between developed and developing countries
The meeting "Harmonisation of toxicology issues between developed and developing countries" was held under EUROTOX support last September 7th, 2009 during the 7th Conference for Toxicology in Developing Countries (7CTDC) (Sun City, South Africa).
Read more: EUROTOX web page http://www.eurotox.com within the section News → EUROTOX news & announcements.
The rising rates of obesity in fast developing Countries: the Developmental Origins hypothesis and the role of food contaminants as possible "trigger"
Chiara Frazzoli and Alberto Mantovani, 29.09.2009
The risk of developing metabolic disorders in adult life is influenced by environmental factors that operate during pre- and early postnatal development. In fact, even thoughmuch of the rise in obesity pandemic is attributed to lifestyle factors ashyper-caloric/nutritionally poor diet and sedentary life, other additional riskfactors have been proposed. The 'developmental programming' is a process during which a stimulus in utero or in the early life stages may establish a permanent response leading to enhanced risk of developing adulthood disease. The 'Thrifty Phenotype' hypothesis explains the role of insufficient in utero nutrition as strong programming stimulus in later development of Type 2 diabetes. The 'Predictive Adaptive Response' hypothesis proposes that the degree of mismatch between the pre- and postnatal environments is a key determinant in abnormal programming and subsequent disease outcome. It has been suggested that neuroendocrine development during fetal life may be based on predictions about postnatal environmental conditions: following this hypothesis, interaction between the prenatal undernutrition and postnatal high-fat nutrition amplifies the propensity towards diet-induced obesity (Ikenasio-Thorpe BA, Breier BH, Vickers MH, Fraser M. Prenatal influences on susceptibility to diet-induced obesity are mediated by altered neuroendocrine gene expression. J Endocrinol. 2007; 193: 31-7).
Some pollutants may indeed contribute to alter developmental programming. Dietary exposure to widespread pollutants (Dioxins and dioxin-like PCBs, Arsenic, Cadmium, Bisphenol A, Organophosphate insecticides) may represent a "trigger", i.e. a key risk factors in the increased proneness to the onset of metabolic syndrome (http://www.iss.it/inte/aspe/cont.php?id=144&lang=2&tipo=12; http://www.iss.it/inte/aspe/cont.php?id=92&lang=2&tipo=12). Such contaminants may alter programming of body composition or development by acting, e.g., on the glucorticoid and/or thyroid axis and/or by modulating epigenetic regulation of gene expression. In most situations the levels of individual contaminants are too low to affect a healthy individual;however one has to consider the possibility of additive modes of action as well as, most important, the unique vulnerability of the unborn child.Such exposure takes place mostly through foods containing high percentage of lipids (some kinds of fish, fatty meat, and dairy products); therefore, more targeted and up-to date controls and preventive actions could effectively contributeto public health plans against pandemic obesity.Preventive actions to reduce the chance of contamination and control/risk management interventions on specific food production chains would thus contribute to implement the "sustainable food safety" framework, ensuring protection also to next generation (Frazzoli C, Petrini C, Mantovani A. Sustainable development and next generation’s health: a long-term perspective about the consequences of today's activities for food safety. Ann Ist Super Sanità, 2009; 45:65-75).
Toxicological risk factors in the holistic approach towards infectious diseases aetiology and prevention
Chiara Frazzoli and Alberto Mantovani, 29.09.2009
Attention is considerably rising on direct/indirect interactions betweeninfective and toxicological risk factors in the susceptibility to infectious agents and/or the clinical severity of infectious diseases. In fact, beyond the infectious agent itself, other factors are required to support the onset of an infectious disease, and/or to facilitate its progression or the effectiveness of immune responses. Several endocrine disrupters, mainly dioxin-like compounds, have a recognized ability to alter immune response, e.g. by indirectly altering the response to viral agents, such as influenza viruses (http://www.iss.it/inte/aspe/cont.php?id=186&lang=2&tipo=12).
Environmentally-relevant exposure levels of widespread contaminants are suspected to jeopardize the effectiveness of antiviral defences. For instance, inorganic arsenic, which is a toxic trace element identified as endocrine disrupter, affects the immune response to infection from the swine flu virus H1N1 in the mouse (http://www.niehs.nih.gov/news/newsletter/2009/june/extramural-papers.cfm#swine). Prospective epidemiological studies show a more than multiplicative interaction between infection with hepatitis B virusesand dietary exposure to aflatoxins, e.g. aflatoxin B1, in terms of hepatocellular carcinoma risk (Wild CP, Montesano R, 2009, A model of interaction: Aflatoxins and hepatitis viruses in liver cancer aetiology and prevention. Cancer Lett [Epub ahead of print]). Thus, primary and secondary prevention strategies against food and environmental contaminants are warranted also to support enhanced basal immunity andprevention of infectious diseases.
Aquaculture and integration between 'food safety and security' strategies
Chiara Frazzoli, 07.08.2009
Aquaculture is a telling example of different and complementary standpoints of "sustainable food", "sustainable production" and "sustainable food safety".
With the increasing world population and current saturation of fishery, farmed fish and aquaculture are respectively recognised as possible "sustainable food" and "sustainable production" of animal origin possibly filling the expected future deficit in per-capita consume.
“Sustainable food” means, e.g., the possible use of local ingredients for fish feeds not competitive with human food. “Sustainable production” means, e.g., current significant availability of environmental renewable resources for fish farming, whose use must be preserved by addressed environmental, waste and biodiversity management.
Moreover, further to the potential of promoting local employment, self subsistence and market, a most important point is that fish is a nutritionally pivotal food, being rich in proteins, fatty acids, vitamins and minerals. Under this respect, farmed fish is prone indeed to the newest approaches for the promotion of health as human capital to be preserved among generations. Actions for "Sustainable Food Safety" (defined in the Noodles activities page http://www.noodlesonlus.org/Activities/tabid/498/Default.aspx) are to date substantially focused on fish feeds. In this field, innovation is particularly addressed to the optimization of the risk-to-benefit ratio, especially targeting developmental programming and next generation’s health; in particular, innovation should aim at feeds both based on ingredients less vulnerable to contamination by such pollutants as, e.g., MethylHg, PCBs, PFOS and PBDEs, and richer in essential nutrients (e.g., W3, iodine). With increasing world population, it has been estimated that aquaculture has to double by the 2030 to maintain current per-capita consume: aquaculture represents the food production chain with the major raising rate worldwide, with the exception of Africa. In most African countries things are changing however, with increasing efforts and resources allocated to aquaculture. A recent example comes from Zambia, where the Livestock and Fisheries Minister has challenged Zambians to diversify into fish farming (http://allafrica.com/stories/200904160396.html).
Initiatives for 'food safety and security' in Africa
Chiara Frazzoli, 03.08.2009
The UN International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) pointed out that "there is no safety net like food security": agricultural growth is more effective in reducing poverty levels than expansion in other sectors, as well as to reverse migration of people from the urban areas to rural areas. Small-scale farmers could be part of the solution to global food security provided the right investments, policies and development programmes are in place to make them increasingly able to respond quickly to an increased demand for food and to global market (http://allafrica.com/stories/200906090837.html). The joint European Commission - African Union Commission specific programme targets the promotion of compliance with international Sanitary and Phyto-Sanitary measures towards the reduction of the likelihood of food-borne diseases and the related health and socio-economic burden. At micro level, the capacity building activities will help improve the use of agricultural inputs (fertilisers, pesticides, veterinary drugs, etc.) and good hygiene practices in the production and distribution of agro-food products, as well as animal/product management systems of control and certification. At macro level, the activities will support the gradual integration and competitiveness of the agro-food sector, strengthening the pivotal role of agriculture towards rural development and food security and food safety, increasing market access for African producers, both within Africa and with the rest of the world. Read more: http://ec.europa.eu/food/training_strategy/index_en.htm
Dumping of poor quality and/or unwholesome food to rapidly growing areas
Chiara Frazzoli, last update 03.08.2009
Lose of food sovereignty with massive and uncontrolled importation of staple foodlike chicken, rice and milk has negative implications on economy, activities of small farmers, with rural-urban migration and abandon of agriculture villages, as well as on public health. "We do not eat what we produce because so many products are imported and consumers have developed a liking for these products, which are available and less expensive" (ACDIC, Cameroon, http://www.postnewsline.com/2008/04/cameroon-is-los.html; http://www.spiegel.de/international/world/0,1518,506742,00.html). An example that has received recent media attention is the massive imports of frozen chicken in Cameroon. The product is sold at a very low price on local markets in disastrous sanitary conditions, creating severe problems to local poultry breeders. The Cameroonian ACDIC (Association for the defence of collective interests) campaigns against the import of frozen chicken meat and, whereas attention has been provided to the immediate health risk associated with microbial contamination of thawed and refrozen chicken, no data exist on longer term risks such as those deriving from the use of preservatives.
May 19, 2008: Nigeria Bans 30 Pesticides After Deaths
Nigeria's National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC) has banned the sale and supply of 30 agrochemical products, according to the Nigeria-based Vanguard news service. NAFDAC Director-General, Dora Akunyili, said that the ban became necessary when it was discovered that the pesticides were causing food poisoning that had resulted in multiple deaths after consumers had eaten food crops with high levels the chemicals.
Some of the banned pesticides are aldrin, binapacryl, captafol, chlordane, chlordimeform, DDT, dieldrin, dinoseb, ethylene dichloride, heptaclor, lindane, parathion, phosphamidon, monocroptophos, methamidophos, chlorobenzilate, toxaphene, endrin, merix endosulfan, delta HCH, and ethylene oxide. Following these tragic incidents, NAFDAC said Nigerians should stop using agrochemicals that are not approved by the agency and should desist from the dangerous practice of using Gammallin to harvest fish. Read more: http://www.fc-international.com/viewitem.php?ItemID=1121
Nov 27, 2007 - Imported Appliances Threaten Environmental Safety in Nigeria
The federal government has disclosed that the legal and illegal importation of used electrical electronics appliances into the country is creating serious human and environmental problems. The potentially hazardous nature of electronic waste due to elements like cadmium, mercury, lead and compounds as PCB's has posed serious threats to environmental sustainability. The minister of environment, housing and urban development, while commending the efforts of the federal government on the introduction of GSM and the project of one computer per child as a means to positively reduce the digital gap and effectively launch Nigerian citizenry to the information and technology age, noted, however, that it will leave in its wake an awesome level of electronic waste that must be environmentally managed in a sound manner. It is in this regard that the ministry is conducting inventory of E-waste in Nigeria and an assessment of current scenario quantification, characteristics of existing disposal services and environmental impact as a means to address the problem of dumping of computers that are imported into the country every month.
Read more: http://allafrica.com/stories/printable/200711270209.html
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