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Impact of source, packaging and presence of food safety management system on heavy metals levels in spices and herbs.

ABSTRACT: Spices and herbs are susceptible to various contaminants, including heavy metals. Our study aimed to quantify the levels of lead (Pb), mercury (Hg), cadmium (As), and cadmium (Cd) in 96 composite samples of 13 herbs and spices frequently consumed in Lebanon. Twenty percent (19/96) and 4% (4/96) of the samples exceeded the permissible levels of Pb and Cd, respectively and all the samples met the permissible levels of As and Hg according to Codex Alimentarius standards. For Pb and Cd, unpackaged samples had the highest levels of unacceptable samples of 31% (8/26) and 8% (2/26), respectively. The samples locally packaged in companies with and without Food Safety Management System (FSMS) had the same levels of unacceptable samples of 12% (3/26) and 4% (1/26) for Pb and Cd, respectively. Imported packaged samples had unacceptable levels of Pb (28% (5/18)) and were acceptable for the three other heavy metals.

SUBMITTER: Moussa L

PROVIDER: S-EPMC11343411 | biostudies-literature | 2024

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Impact of source, packaging and presence of food safety management system on heavy metals levels in spices and herbs.

Moussa Layale L Hassan Hussein F HF Savvaidis Ioannis N IN Karam Layal L

PloS one 20240823 8

Spices and herbs are susceptible to various contaminants, including heavy metals. Our study aimed to quantify the levels of lead (Pb), mercury (Hg), cadmium (As), and cadmium (Cd) in 96 composite samples of 13 herbs and spices frequently consumed in Lebanon. Twenty percent (19/96) and 4% (4/96) of the samples exceeded the permissible levels of Pb and Cd, respectively and all the samples met the permissible levels of As and Hg according to Codex Alimentarius standards. For Pb and Cd, unpackaged s ...[more]

PMID: 39178188

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Project description:BackgroundWorldwide, herbs and spices are much used food flavourings. However, little data exist regarding actual dietary intake of culinary herbs and spices. We developed a food frequency questionnaire (FFQ) for the assessment of habitual diet the preceding year, with focus on phytochemical rich food, including herbs and spices. The aim of the present study was to evaluate the intakes of herbs and spices from the FFQ with estimates of intake from another dietary assessment method. Thus we compared the intake estimates from the FFQ with 28 days of estimated records of herb and spice consumption as a reference method.MethodsThe evaluation study was conducted among 146 free living adults, who filled in the FFQ and 2-4 weeks later carried out 28 days recording of herb and spice consumption. The FFQ included a section with questions about 27 individual culinary herbs and spices, while the records were open ended records for recording of herbs and spice consumption exclusively.ResultsOur study showed that the FFQ obtained slightly higher estimates of total intake of herbs and spices than the total intake assessed by the Herbs and Spice Records (HSR). The correlation between the two assessment methods with regard to total intake was good (r = 0.5), and the cross-classification suggests that the FFQ may be used to classify subjects according to total herb and spice intake. For the 8 most frequently consumed individual herbs and spices, the FFQ obtained good estimates of median frequency of intake for 2 herbs/spices, while good estimates of portion sizes were obtained for 4 out of 8 herbs/spices.ConclusionsOur results suggested that the FFQ was able to give good estimates of frequency of intake and portion sizes on group level for several of the most frequently used herbs and spices. The FFQ was only able to fairly rank subjects according to frequency of intake of the 8 most frequently consumed herbs and spices. Other studies are warranted to further explore the intakes of culinary spices and herbs.

Project description:The beneficial effects of plant-rich diets and traditional medicines are increasingly recognized in the treatment of civilization diseases due to the abundance and diversity of bioactive substances therein. However, the important active portion of natural food or plant-based medicine is presently not under control. Hence, a paradigm shift from quality control based on marker compounds to effect-directed profiling is postulated. We investigated 68 powdered plant extracts (botanicals) which are added to food products in food industry. Among them are many plants that are used as traditional medicines, herbs and spices. A generic strategy was developed to evaluate the bioactivity profile of each botanical as completely as possible and to straightforwardly assign the most potent bioactive compounds. It is an 8-dimensional hyphenation of normal-phase high-performance thin-layer chromatography with multi-imaging by ultraviolet, visible and fluorescence light detection as well as effect-directed assay and heart-cut of the bioactive zone to orthogonal reversed-phase high-performance liquid chromato-graphy-photodiode array detection-heated electrospray ionization mass spectrometry. In the non-target, effect-directed screening via 16 different on-surface assays, we tentatively assigned more than 60 important bioactive compounds in the studied botanicals. These were antibacterials, estrogens, antiestrogens, androgens, and antiandrogens, as well as acetylcholinesterase, butyrylcholinesterase, α-amylase, α-glucosidase, β-glucosidase, β-glucuronidase, and tyrosinase inhibitors, which were on-surface heart-cut eluted from the bioautogram or enzyme inhibition autogram to the next dimension for further targeted characterization. This biological-physicochemical hyphenation is able to detect and control active mechanisms of traditional medicines or botanicals as well as the essentials of plant-based food. The array of 1,292 profiles (68 samples × 19 detections) showed the versatile bioactivity potential of natural food. It reveals how efficiently and powerful our natural food contributes to our homeostasis.

Project description:IntroductionUnhealthy eating behaviors are adversely impacting the health and performance of the U.S. armed forces. Vegetable intake, in particular, has been shown to be far below recommended levels in active duty military populations. Previous research in other populations has shown that the addition of spices and herbs can help overcome numerous barriers to vegetable intake. The goal of this study was to determine modifiable barriers to vegetable intake among a sample of active duty military service members at Naval Support Activity Bethesda and evaluate whether the addition of spices and herbs can help surmount these barriers.Materials and methodsMonadic sensory testing was conducted that compared typical preparation (butter and salt) of 4 vegetables (broccoli, carrots, cauliflower, and kale) vs. otherwise identical preparation with the addition of spices and herbs. The Menu Item Survey, a 9-point hedonic scale utilized throughout the U.S. Military for recipe development, was the primary outcome of the vegetable sensory testing. Questionnaires were administered to assess barriers to military dining facility vegetable intake. Unpaired t-tests were utilized to compare Menu Item Survey ratings of typical vegetables vs. vegetables with spices and herbs. Descriptive statistics were computed to summarize the results of the barriers questionnaires, and qualitative analysis of open-ended questions was conducted to identify perceived areas of improved vegetable intake.ResultsA diverse sample of 70 active duty service members participated in the vegetable sensory testing and provided outcome data. The most common barriers to military dining facility vegetable intake were appearance (42.9%), preparation style (41.3%), and taste (39.7%). Sensory testing revealed that vegetables with spices and herbs were preferred over typical preparations in overall appeal, flavor, and aroma (P <.03).DiscussionThe addition of spices and herbs appears to help overcome key sensory-related barriers to military dining facility vegetable intake. Future comparison of vegetable intake with and without spices and herbs when included in a full meal in a military dining setting is warranted in order to better evaluate the effectiveness in increasing vegetable intake under typical dining conditions.

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Impact of source, packaging and presence of food safety management system on heavy metals levels in spices and herbs.

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Impact of source, packaging and presence of food safety management system on heavy metals levels in spices and herbs.

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