Assessment of health risks from aflatoxins in rice commercialised in Riyadh, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia
Main Article Content
Keywords
probable daily intake, hepatocellular carcinoma, high performance liquid chromatography, legal limit
Abstract
This study aimed to assess the occurrence and health risk of aflatoxins (AF) in rice imported to Riyadh, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA). Rice samples (n=41) including long grain white rice (LGW), short grain white rice (SGW) and long grain yellow rice (LGY) were analysed using high performance liquid chromatography with fluorescence detection. Accordingly, the hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) risk for the total population was estimated with regard to individuals positive for the hepatitis B virus surface antigen (HBsAg+) and HBsAg-negative individuals. The results of this study indicated that 68% of the samples were contaminated with an average AF concentration of 1.45±1.57 µg/kg. The SGW had the highest value of contamination (mean=2.34 µg/kg) followed by the LGY (1.36 µg/kg) and the LGW (0.59 µg/kg). The AF levels in all analysed samples were found to be below the prescribed limit of the KSA regulation (20 µg/kg), and 1 sample (2.4%) had total AF level higher than European Commission limit (4 µg/kg). However, estimation of the chronic effects revealed that the HCC risk was found 0.04 for HBsAg- and 1.04 for HBsAg+ per 105 individuals per year. The margin of exposure was found to be 72 for total AF. The results indicate that consumption of AF contaminated rice imported into Riyadh (KSA) may have public health consequences including risk of HCC, although levels are below the prescribed limit in the kingdom of Saudi Arabia as well as in European Union. This is the first study to investigate the occurrence of AF, and the related health risks, in rice imported to KSA
References
Al-Wayli, H.M., 2009. Prevalence of hepatitis B surface antigen in a Saudi hospital population. Saudi Medical Journal 30: 448-449.
Bansal, J., Pantazopoulos, P., Tam, J., Cavlovic, P., Kwong, K., Turcotte, A.M., Lau, B.Y. and Scott, P.M., 2011. Surveys of rice sold in Canada for aflatoxins, ochratoxin A and fumonisins. Food Additives and Contaminants 28: 767-774.
Benford, D., Bolger, P.M., Carthew, P., Coulet, M., DiNovi, M., Leblanc, J.C., Renwick, A.G., Setzer, W., Schlatter, J., Smith, B. and Slob, W., 2010. Application of the margin of exposure (MOE) approach to substances in food that are genotoxic and carcinogenic. Food and Chemical Toxicology 48: S2-S24.
Benford, D., Leblanc, J.C., R. Setzer, W., 2010a. Application of the margin of exposure (MoE) approach to substances in food that are genotoxic and carcinogenic. Example: aflatoxin B1 (AFB1). Food and Chemical Toxicology 48: S34-S41.
Diener, U.L. and Davis, N.D., 1967. Limiting temperature and relative humidity for growth and production of aflatoxin and free fatty acids by Aspergillus flavus in sterile peanuts. Journal of the American Oil Chemists Society 44: 259-263.
Elzupir, A.O. and Alamer, A.S., 2014. Quantitative cancer risk of aflatoxin in peanut butter and vegetable oils: Sudan case study. Toxin Reviews 33: 202-205.
Elzupir, A.O., Alamer, A.S. and Dutton, M.F., 2015. The occurrence of aflatoxin in rice worldwide: a review. Toxin Reviews 34: 37-42.
Elzupir, A.O., Salih, A.O.A., Suliman, A.S., Adam, A.A. and Elhussein, A.M., 2011. Aflatoxins in peanut butter in Khartoum State, Sudan. Mycotoxin Research 27: 183-186.
Elzupir, A.O., Suliman, M.A., Ibrahim, A.I., Fadul, M.H. and Elhussein, A.M., 2010. Aflatoxins levels in vegetable oils in Khartoum State, Sudan. Mycotoxin Research 26: 69-73.
Elzupir, A.O., Younis, Y.M.H., Fadul, M.H. and Elhussein, A.M., 2009. Determination of aflatoxins in animal feed in Khartoum State, Sudan. Journal of Animal and Veterinary Advance 8: 1000-1003.
European Food Safety Authority (EFSA), 2005. Opinion of the scientific committee on a request from EFSA related to a harmonized approach for risk assessment of substances which are both genotoxic and carcinogenic. EFSA Journal 82: 1-31.
Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), 2012. Rice Market Monitor. Trade and Markets Division. Vol. XV No. 1: 1-33.
International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC), 1993. Some naturally occurring substances food items and constituents, heterocyclic aromatic amines and mycotoxins. IARC monographs on the evaluation of carcinogenic risks to humans. Vol. 56. IARC Publications, Lyon, France.
Iqbal, S.Z., Asi, M.R., Ariño, A., Akram, N. and Zuber, M., 2012. Aflatoxin contamination in different fractions of rice from Pakistan and estimation of dietary intakes. Mycotoxin Research 28: 175-180.
GCC Standardization Organization (GSO), 1997. GSO 841. The maximum limits of mycotoxins permitted in food and feed – aflatoxins. Available at: http://tinyurl.com/yd8qvllr
Leong, Y.H., Latiff, A.A., Ahmad, N.I. and Rosma, A., 2012. Exposure measurement of aflatoxins and aflatoxin metabolites in human body fluids. A short review. Mycotoxin Research 28: 79-87.
Liu, Y. and Wu, F., 2010. Global burden of aflatoxin-induced hepatocellular carcinoma: a risk assessment. Environmental Health Perspectives 118: 818-824.
Makun, H.A., Dutton, M.F., Njobeh, P.B., Mwanza, M. and Kabiru, A.Y., 2011. Natural multioccurrence of mycotoxins in rice from Niger State, Nigeria. Mycotoxin Research 27: 97-104.
Mazaheri, M., 2009. Determination of aflatoxins in imported rice to Iran. Food and Chemical Toxicology 47: 2064-2066.
Nguyen, M.T., Tozlovanu, M., Tran, T.L. and Pfohl-Leszkowicz, A., 2007. Occurrence of aflatoxin B1, citrinin and ochratoxin A in rice in five provinces of the central region of Vietnam. Food Chemistry 105: 42-47.
Ok, H.E., Kim, D.M., Kim, D., Chung, S.H., Chung, M.S., Park, K.H. and Chun, H.S., 2014. Mycobiota and natural occurrence of aflatoxin, deoxynivalenol, nivalenol and zearalenone in rice freshly harvested in South Korea. Food Control 37: 284-291.
Osman, N.A., Abdelgadir, A.M., Moss, M.O. and Bener, A., 1999. Aflatoxin contamination of rice in the United Arab Emirates. Mycotoxin Research 15: 40-44.
Park, J.W., Kim, E.K. and Kim, Y.B., 2004. Estimation of the daily exposure of Koreans to aflatoxin B1 through food consumption. Food Additives and Contaminants 21: 70-75.
Reddy, K., Farhana, N.I. and Salleh, B., 2011. Occurrence of Aspergillusspp. and Aflatoxin B1 in Malaysian foods used for human consumption. Journal of Food Science 76: 99-104.
Reiter, E.V., Vouk, F., Böhm, J. and Razzazi-Fazeli, E., 2010. Aflatoxins in rice – a limited survey of products marketed in Austria. Food Control 21: 988-991.
Ruadrew, S., Craft, J. and Aidoo, K., 2013. Occurrence of toxigenic Aspergillus spp. and aflatoxins in selected food commodities of Asian origin sourced in the West of Scotland. Food and Chemical Toxicology 55: 653-658.
Sales, A.C. and Yoshizawa, T., 2005. Updated profile of aflatoxin and Aspergillus section Flavi contamination in rice and its byproducts from the Philippines. Food Additives and Contaminants 22: 429-436.
Sangare-Tigori, B., Moukha, S., Kouadio, H.J., Betbeder, A.M., Dano, D.S. and Creppy, E.E., 2006. Co-occurrence of aflatoxin B1, fumonisin B1, ochratoxin A and zearalenone in cereals and peanuts from Cote d’ Ivoire. Food Additives and Contaminants 23: 1000-1007.
Suárez-Bonnet, E., Carvajal, M., Méndez-Ramírez, I., Castillo-Urueta, P., Cortés-Eslava, J., Gómez-Arroyo, S. and Melero-Vara, J.M., 2013. Aflatoxin (B1, B2, G1, and G2) contamination in rice of Mexico and Spain from local sources or imported. Journal of Food Science 78: 1822-1829.
Tanaka, K., Sago, Y., Zheng, Y., Nakagawa, H. and Kushiro, M., 2007. Mycotoxins in rice. International Journal of Food Microbiology 119: 59-66.
Tchana, A.N., Moundipa, P.F. and Tchouanguep, F.M., 2010. Aflatoxin contamination in food and body fluids in relation to malnutrition and cancer status in Cameroon. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health 7: 178-188.
United States Department of Agriculture (USDA), 2016. Saudi Arabia milled rice domestic consumption by year. Available at: https://tinyurl.com/ybm4jem7.
WHO, 2009. Environmental Health Criteria 239: Principles for modelling dose-response for the risk assessment of chemicals. World Health Organization, Geneva, Switzerland. Available at: http://tinyurl.com/y9d3erju
Wogan, G.N., Paglialunga, S. and Newberne, P.M., 1974. Carcinogenic effects of low dietary levels of aflatoxin B1 in rats. Food and Cosmetics Toxicology 12: 681-685.
World Health Organisation (WHO), 1999. Evaluation of certain food additives and contaminants. Forty-ninth report of the Joint FAO/WHO Expert Committee on food additives. WHO Technical Report Series No. 884. WHO, Geneva, Switzerland.
World Health Organisation (WHO), 2003. Food regional diets regional per capita consumption of raw and semi-processed agricultural commodities. WHO, Geneva, Switzerland.
Article Sidebar
Article Details
