Background and Objective: Snacks may be contaminated with various kinds of bacteria species and this is common with street vended foods. This study was carried out to determine the microbiological quality and potential exposure to aflatoxins from consumption of selected street-vended snacks in the Lagos metropolis. Materials and Methods: Twenty samples each of groundnut, kuli-kuli (groundnut cake), popcorn and chin-chin, making eighty samples, were collected from five areas in Lagos: Surulere, Oshodi, Iyana-Ipaja, Ojota and Festac. The samples were evaluated for bacteria load, fungi (yeast/mold) load and aflatoxins using standard methods. The data were analyzed statistically using Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) version 20. Results: Bacteria and fungi loads were lower than the regulatory limit. The level of total aflatoxin was highest (37.75 µg kgG 1 ) in kuli-kuli, followed by groundnut (21.24 µg kgG 1 ), chin-chin (3.88 µg kgG 1 ) and lowest in popcorn (0.45 µg kgG 1 ). The levels in kuli-kuli and groundnut were higher than the maximum permissible limit (15 µg kgG 1 ). Dietary exposure to aflatoxins ranged from 0.23 to 116.4 ng/kg-b.wt./day, which was higher than the permissible exposure level. The margin of exposure ranged from 1.5 to 378 in children and from 4.3 to 739.1 in adults, which were lower than the benchmark dose lower limit (BMDL) of 10,000, indicating high public health concerns. Conclusion: Higher levels of total aflatoxins than the maximum permissible limits in the studied samples call for public health concerns considering the level of exposure.
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.
customersupport@researchsolutions.com
10624 S. Eastern Ave., Ste. A-614
Henderson, NV 89052, USA
This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.
Copyright © 2024 scite LLC. All rights reserved.
Made with 💙 for researchers
Part of the Research Solutions Family.