Melamine in Iranian foodstuffs: A systematic review, meta-analysis, and health risk assessment of infant formula.

The presence of melamine in food is one of the most significant threats to consumer health and food safety now confronting the communities. The goal of this systematic review and meta-analysis was to determine the melamine content of different food products available on the Iranian market. The pooled melamine concentration (95% confidence interval) on 484 samples of animal-based foodstuffs was as follows: 0.22 (0.08, 0.36 mg kg-1) for milk, 0.39 (0.25, 0.53 mg kg-1) for coffee mate, 1.45 (1.36, 1.54 mg kg-1) for dairy cream, 0.90 (0.50, 1.29 mg kg-1) for yoghurt, 1.25 (1.20, 1.29 mg kg-1) for cheese, 0.81 (-0.16, 1.78 mg kg-1) for hen eggs, 1.28 (1.25, 1.31 mg kg-1) for poultry meat, 0.58 (0.35, 0.80 mg kg-1) for chocolates, and 0.98 (0.18, 1.78 mg kg-1) for infant formula. Based on the results of health risk assessment study on toddlers under 2 years old who ingested infant formula (as a melamine-sensitive group), all groups of toddlers are at an acceptable level of non-carcinogenic risk (THQ ≤ 1). Toddlers were classified according to their ILCR (carcinogenic risk) levels due to infant formula consumption as follows: under 6 months (0.0000056), 6-12 months (0.0000077), 12-18 months (0.0000102), and 18-24 months (0.0000117). The melamine carcinogenicity in infant formula for children had an ILCR value of 0.000001-0.0001 in the investigation, which was considerable risk. According to the findings, Iranian food products (notably infant formula) should be analyzed for melamine contamination on a regular basis.

A comprehensive systematic review and health risk assessment of potentially toxic element intakes via fish consumption in Iran.

Risk assessment of heavy metals is critical in controlling and preventing risks of foodborne diseases. Fish can be used as bioindicators for exposure to potential toxic elements (PTEs), which can represent potential risks for humans. The long Iranian coastline and three major fishery regions in the country, including the northern (Caspian Sea) and southern (Persian Gulf and Gulf of Oman) seas as well as inland waters and aquacultures (rivers, dams, wetlands and fish farms) have made Iran a large producer of fish. In the first step of the present study, data collection and report of PTEs in fish from the three fishery regions (2010-2022) were carried out. In the second step, health risks were assessed using Monte Carlo simulation in child and adult consumers. The average concentrations of Cd, Hg and Pb for the northern sea, southern sea, and inland waters and aquacultures were 0.273, 0.249, 1.077; 0.430, 0.423, 1.182; and 1.387, 0.232, 1.703 µg/g per dry weight, respectively. Based on the target hazard quotient results, Hg intake of Iranian children from all the three fishery regions was more than 1, which was alarming. In the adult age group, southern sea fish consumers were at risk of Hg adverse health effects. Moreover, Cd included the highest carcinogenic risk of toxic elements in fish from the three fishery regions of Iran. Estimation of THQ, HI, ILCR and EDI revealed that consumption of fish might induce health complexities for the consumers in Iran. Moreover, Iranians from northern and southern regions of the country consumed further seafood due to the availability of high seafood sources in these regions. Hence, various indices must be used for the risk assessment of general human health. Due to the high risks of carcinogenicity/non-carcinogenicity estimated in the risk assessment, consumption of fish by infants and pregnant women must critically be assessed.

Measurement of Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons in Baby Food Samples in Tehran, Iran With Magnetic-Solid-Phase-Extraction and Gas-Chromatography/Mass-Spectrometry Method: A Health Risk Assessment.

Baby food is one of the most sensitive foods available, which is closely monitored for carcinogens. In this study, 16 Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbon (PAH) compounds were evaluated by using the method of magnetic-solid-phase-extraction and gas-chromatography/mass-spectrometry (MSPE/GC-MS). The recovery, limit of detection (LOD), and limit of quantification (LOQ) of PAH compounds were 93.4-101.6%, 0.06-1.12, and 0.18-3.38 µg/kg, respectively. The results indicated the mean of total PAHs in all samples was 3.73 ± 0.8 µg/kg, and the mean of Benzo[a]pyrene (BaP) was 0.29 ± 0.14 µg/kg that were lower than the USA-Environmental Protection Agency (USEPA) standard level (1 µg/kg, BaP in baby foods). In addition, our results showed that mixed five cereal-based baby food had a maximum mean of ΣPAHs (5.06 ± 0.68 µg/kg) and mixed wheat and date-based baby food had a minimum mean of ΣPAHs (3.03 ± 0.41 µg/kg). The carcinogenic risk due to PAH in the tested baby foods sold in Iran was adequately low, and all examined products were safe for consumers. Therefore, it can be said that the consumption of baby foods does not pose a threat to consumers.

Occurrence of Aflatoxins in Commercial Cereal-based Baby Foods in Iran: A Probabilistic Risk Assessment to Health.

The aim of this study was to assess the occurrence of Aflatoxins (AFs) including B1, B2, G1 and G2 in commercial cereal-based baby foods by HPLC-FLD method in Iran and related risk assessment in three baby age groups (6-12, 12-18, and 18-24 months) using Monte Carlo simulation approach. Results showed an occurrence ranging from 20% to 60% for B1, B2, and G2 aflatoxins, while AFG1 was not detected in any assessed samples. Exposure and risk assessment was estimated to be two groups (aflatoxin B1 and total aflatoxins). The highest estimated dietary exposure to both AFB1 and total AFs was estimated for 6-12 months aged babies, representing 5.81 ng/kg BW/day and 8.55 ng/kg BW/day, respectively. Overall, the margin of exposures to AFB1 and total AFs were lower than 10,000 in all age groups, indicating a health concern about AFB1 and total AFs exposure through cereal-based baby food consumption. High cancer risk for high consumers (P95) of baby food was also estimated in all age groups, calling for immediate intervention due to serious claims that AFB1, is a highly carcinogenic component, causes hepatocellular carcinoma. Risk ranking results indicated the presence of AFB1 is classified as high risk for babies who consume cereal-based foods, which demands the attention of risk managers to reduce or eliminate this risk for the most vulnerable sector of society, whose aged <24 months.

Acrylamide content of collected food products from Tehran's market: a risk assessment study.

Acrylamide concentration in food products collected from the Tehran market was investigated by the aid of a dispersive liquid-liquid microextraction (DLLME) system coupled with gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS). Also, the dietary exposure distribution and related potential risk for acrylamide ingestion were estimated by the Monte Carlo simulation (MCS). The highest and lowest mean concentration of acrylamide was detected in coffee and roasted nuts samples as 549 and 133 µg/kg, respectively. The mean acrylamide dietary exposure values for children (3-10 years), adolescents (11-17 years), adults (18-60 years), and seniors (61-96 years) were estimated to be 1.81, 1.02, 0.61, and 0.53 µg/kg body weight (BW)/day, respectively. In all age groups, except children, the estimated exposure in men and boys was higher than that in women and girls. Bread, despite containing low acrylamide content groups (157 µg/kg while compared with other, except roasted nuts), showed with the highest contribution rate in all age groups due to its high consumption rate. The estimated incremental lifetime cancer risk (ILCR) for all age groups was noted as greater than 10-4 indicating serious risk to the population. Moreover, the margin of exposure (MOE) values based on carcinogenicity showed health concern to all age groups (< 10,000). Regarding the non-carcinogenic risk, the target hazard quotient (THQ) was lower than 1, and MOE based on neurotoxicity was higher than 125 (safety thresholds), which represented negligible and ignorable risk in all age groups except in a small group of children and adolescents. Graphical abstract.

Home Food Safety Practice and Household Food Insecurity: A Structural Equation Modeling Approach.

BACKGROUND: Food safety and food security are interrelated concepts with a profound impact on the quality of human life. The current study, for the first time, was set to identify associations between home food safety practice and household food insecurity a structural equation modeling approach. METHODS: In this cross-sectional study, urban households were selected from among 10 health centers of five districts of Tehran, Iran (2015). The following questionnaires were completed: socioeconomic status (SES), food security and food safety. Structural Equation Modeling (SEM) was applied for predicting the relationships between SES, food insecurity, and food safety in households. RESULTS: Food security was observed in 56% of households. Mild, moderate and severe food-insecure households were determined to be 29%, 12%, and 3%, respectively. In addition, the scores of home food safety practice in 37.5%, 33% and 29.5% of the households were classified as desirable, acceptable and weak, respectively. Low-educated mothers having husbands with low educational and occupational level had a weaker food safety practice compared to high-educated ones. Based on the SEM results, an inverse association between food safety practice and food insecurity score was observed (t= -2.89, ɣ = 0.16). CONCLUSION: Food insecurity and undesirable food safety practice were relatively prevalent among households. In addition, the economic and social factors could inversely affect both food insecurity and food safety practices.

Potential Health Risk Assessment of Different Heavy Metals in Wheat Products.

In the present work, health risk of heavy metals such as As, Cd, Co, Cr, Cu, Hg, Ni, Pb, and Zn in Iranian urban and rural samples including wheat, wheat flour, bread, pasta and sweets were assessed. The real amount of heavy metals in target samples were determined by inductively coupled plasma-atomic emission spectrometry (ICP-AES) and atomic absorption spectroscopy (AAS). Wet ashing and hydride generation techniques were used in sample preparation step. Results demonstrated that heavy metal contaminations in cereal samples were significant. The average concentrations of heavy metals in wheat products were between 0.01 mg kg-1 to 46 mg kg-1. Finally, the health risk assessment results showed that heavy metal contents in rural samples were higher than those in urban samples. The risk of Cu and Zn was significant in two areas and risk of Cr and Cd was not significant.

Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) content of edible vegetable oils in Iran: A risk assessment study.

Totally forty samples (23 brands) of different types of edible oils including frying oil (n = 14), blended oil (n = 13), sunflower oil (n = 6), corn oil (n = 5) and canola oil (n = 2) from Iran's market were analyzed for PAHs content by a High-performance liquid chromatography coupled with fluorescence detector. Also, the Health risk assessment in the adults and children consumers were estimated by the calculating margin of exposure (MOE) and the incremental lifetime cancer risk (ILCR) in the Monte Carlo Simulation (MCS) method. Approximately all of the samples contained different amounts of PAHs, while concentrations of BaP, PAH 4, PAH 8 and PAH 13 were reported as 0.90-11.33, 3.51-84.03, 7.41-117.12 and 129.28-19.54 µg/kg, respectively. Light polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons corresponded to 65% of total PAHs while the remaining 35% belonged to heavy polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons. Based on BaP content, 12 samples were above the standard limits (2 µg/kg) which set by the Standard Organization of Iran and the European Union, whereas 15 samples exceeded maximum limit 10 µg/kg set for PAH 4 established by EU. Percentile 95% of MOE in the adults due to ingestion of sunflower, corn, frying and blended oils were determined as 4.10E+5; 4.05E+5; , 2.17E+5, 2.33E+5, respectively and in the children due to ingestion of sunflower oil, corn oil, frying oil and blended oil were calculated as 5.38E+4, 4.49E+4, 2.86E+4, 3.37E+4. Regarding the percentile of 95% ILCR in the adults due to ingestion of sunflower oil, corn oil, frying oil and blended oil were reported as 4.5E-6, 4.17E-6l, 5.20E-6, 4.93E-6 and also this value in the children in the same rank order of products can be summarized as 3.43E-5, 3.94 E-5, 3.17E-5, 3.76E-5. The rank order of edible oils investigated based on MOE was sunflower oil > corn oil > blended oil > frying oil; and based on ILCR, frying oil > blended oil > sunflower oil > corn oil. The health risk assessment according to MCS method indicated that adults and children are not at considerable health risk; MOE ≥ 1E+4 and ILCR < 1E-4).

Lead and cadmium levels in raw bovine milk and dietary risk assessment in areas near petroleum extraction industries.

Oil fields are a source of heavy metal pollution, but few studies have evaluated its impact on the intake of these contaminants through milk, an important food especially for children. From February 2015 to 2016, 118 samples of raw cow's milk, 14 of fodder and 8 of water in Southwest Iran were collected from farms close to oil fields or related industries. Lead (Pb) and cadmium (Cd) levels were evaluated by graphite furnace atomic absorption spectrometry. Mean±SE in milk and fodder were 47.0±3.9 and 54.0±6.9µg/kg for Pb, and 4.7±1.0 and 3.5±1.3µg/kg for Cd. No Pb or Cd was detected in water. Most milk samples (82.2%) for Pb were above the permissible limits (20µg/kg). Exposure to Pb and Cd from milk consumption was calculated in two scenarios: mean and maximum exposure for the age range of 2-90years. The intake of an average Iranian adult (25years, 60kg b. w., 0.14kg milk/day) would be 6.6µg Pb and 0.66µg Cd/day (WI of 46.2 and 4.6µg, respectively), well below the risk values proposed by some international organizations, even in the maximum exposure scenario. However, Pb exposure for infants and toddlers may be closer to the risk values, since milk and milk products could be the main contributor to Cd and Pb, and small children consume 2-3 times more food than adults relative to their body weight. The risk of Pb and Cd exposure through milk close to oil fields should be considered and a monitoring plan for these contaminants is strongly recommended.