Information regarding the spread and effect of coffee and caffeine intake by individuals with type II diabetes remains unclear. This study aims to identify the amount and sources of habitual caffeine intake by individuals with type II diabetes and to investigate its association with other health outcomes, especially HbA1c. This is a cross-sectional survey involving 100 people medically defined as having type II diabetes comprising both genders, recruited from a care centre. All participants completed a caffeine semi-quantitative food frequency questionnaire (C-FFQ) to estimate their caffeine consumption, a two day 24-h recall, and a detailed questionnaire. The average caffeine intake was calculated from all sources and the differences in mean by gender were tested using a regression model (adjusted to important confounders). Regression models were used to verify the association between average caffeine intake on HbA1c and other health outcomes with adjustment for important confounders. A p value < 0.05 represented statistical significance. Arabic coffee (gahwa) and tea were the most common sources of caffeine among Saudi adults living with diabetes. Average caffeine intake for the whole sample was 194 ± 165 mg/day, which is 2.3 ± 2 mg/kg. There was an inverse association between caffeine intake and age: difference in mean −3.26 mg/year (95%CI: −5.34, −1.18; p = 0.003). Males had significantly higher consumption of caffeine compared to females: difference in mean 90.7 mg/day (95%CI: 13.8, 167.6; p = 0.021). No association was found between average caffeine intake and HbA1C or any other cardiovascular risk factors. This information can help public health practitioners and policy makers when assessing the risk of caffeine consumption among this vulnerable group.

Due to global warming, the risk of aflatoxins exposure through the consumption of contaminated food has increased. Aflatoxins pose serious health hazards to humans’ and animals’ health because of their carcinogenic, mutagenic, and teratogenic properties and their immunosuppressive effects. Aflatoxin contamination in various agricultural commodities has attracted much attention worldwide. Date palm fruits are among these important commodities that are vulnerable to fungal contamination and consequent aflatoxins production. Furthermore, dates are often consumed directly without any further processing, which may result in direct exposure to aflatoxins. Moreover, dates are the second dried fruits traded worldwide, which reflects the widespread consumption of dates due to their nutritive values in addition to religious and cultural values. Accordingly, this review summarizes and discusses the frequency and incidence of aflatoxin contamination in dates worldwide and outlines the analytical procedure for aflatoxin determination in dates for the first time. The susceptibility of date palm fruits to aflatoxins contamination has been documented at various levels in several regions. The findings urged the importance of conducting more comprehensive studies on aflatoxin occurrence and contamination levels in dates as a likely contributor to the dietary exposure to aflatoxins.

Dates are a staple food across the world because of their religious, cultural, and nutritional importance. There are many different varieties of dates, one of which is the Ajwa variety. There have been no reports on the contamination of Ajwa dates by aflatoxins (AFs). Therefore, the present work was conducted to investigate the incidence of AFs in Ajwa dates for the first time. Samples (100) were analysed for AFs using liquid chromatography combined with electrospray ionisation-triple quadrupole tandem-mass spectrometry (LC-ESI-MS/MS). The method was validated and regarded as reliable due to good linearity (R2 > 0.99), satisfactory recovery (61.4 - 105.7%), precision (RSDs ≤ 12.29%), and sensitivity (LOD in the range of 0.042 - 0.013 μg/kg; LOQ in the range of 0.125 - 0.038 μg/kg). Surprisingly, no aflatoxins were detected, which might indicate that this popular type of date is not likely to pose potential health risks, though further research is required.

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