Aflatoxin M1 Contamination of Ghanaian Traditional Soft Cottage Cheese (Wagashie) and Health Risks Associated with Its Consumption

Wagashie is an unripened traditional cheese consumed in West Africa including Ghana. Being a milk product, it is unfortunately susceptible to aflatoxin M1 (AFM1) contamination, which is indeed a grave health challenge globally. This study evaluated AFM1 levels and health risk characterization associ...

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Main Authors: Nii Korley Kortei, Theophilus Annan
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Wiley 2022-01-01
Series:Journal of Food Quality
Online Access:http://dx.doi.org/10.1155/2022/7595545
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author Nii Korley Kortei
Theophilus Annan
author_facet Nii Korley Kortei
Theophilus Annan
author_sort Nii Korley Kortei
collection DOAJ
description Wagashie is an unripened traditional cheese consumed in West Africa including Ghana. Being a milk product, it is unfortunately susceptible to aflatoxin M1 (AFM1) contamination, which is indeed a grave health challenge globally. This study evaluated AFM1 levels and health risk characterization associated with wagashie (n = 182) sampled from different locations in Ghana. AFM1 was measured with high-performance liquid chromatography with a fluorescence detector (HPLC-FLD). Risk assessments were also conducted using models prescribed by the Joint FAO/WHO Expert Committee on Food Additives (JECFA). Out of the 182 samples analyzed for AFM1, 93/182 (51.1%) tested positive between the range 0.00 ± 0.00–3.60 ± 0.99 µg/kg. Risk assessments of AFM1 using deterministic models produced outcomes that ranged between 0.11 and 3.60 ng/kg bw/day, 0.09–1.54, 0–0.0323 ng aflatoxins/kg bw/day, and 3.5 x 10−3 −0.06 cases/100,000 person/yr for estimated daily intake (EDI), margin of exposure (MOE), average potency, and cancer risks, respectively, for the age categories investigated. It was established that the consumption of wagashie posed adverse health effects on all age categories in the selected regions of the study because all calculated MOE values were less than 100,000. Therefore, contamination of wagashie with AFM1 should be a serious public health concern and as such considered a high precedence for Ghana’s risk management actions.
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spelling doaj-art-1bc4d096e0de4ba993790bef1cb2bd1f2025-08-20T03:54:43ZengWileyJournal of Food Quality1745-45572022-01-01202210.1155/2022/7595545Aflatoxin M1 Contamination of Ghanaian Traditional Soft Cottage Cheese (Wagashie) and Health Risks Associated with Its ConsumptionNii Korley Kortei0Theophilus Annan1Department of Nutrition and DieteticsFood Microbiology DivisionWagashie is an unripened traditional cheese consumed in West Africa including Ghana. Being a milk product, it is unfortunately susceptible to aflatoxin M1 (AFM1) contamination, which is indeed a grave health challenge globally. This study evaluated AFM1 levels and health risk characterization associated with wagashie (n = 182) sampled from different locations in Ghana. AFM1 was measured with high-performance liquid chromatography with a fluorescence detector (HPLC-FLD). Risk assessments were also conducted using models prescribed by the Joint FAO/WHO Expert Committee on Food Additives (JECFA). Out of the 182 samples analyzed for AFM1, 93/182 (51.1%) tested positive between the range 0.00 ± 0.00–3.60 ± 0.99 µg/kg. Risk assessments of AFM1 using deterministic models produced outcomes that ranged between 0.11 and 3.60 ng/kg bw/day, 0.09–1.54, 0–0.0323 ng aflatoxins/kg bw/day, and 3.5 x 10−3 −0.06 cases/100,000 person/yr for estimated daily intake (EDI), margin of exposure (MOE), average potency, and cancer risks, respectively, for the age categories investigated. It was established that the consumption of wagashie posed adverse health effects on all age categories in the selected regions of the study because all calculated MOE values were less than 100,000. Therefore, contamination of wagashie with AFM1 should be a serious public health concern and as such considered a high precedence for Ghana’s risk management actions.http://dx.doi.org/10.1155/2022/7595545
spellingShingle Nii Korley Kortei
Theophilus Annan
Aflatoxin M1 Contamination of Ghanaian Traditional Soft Cottage Cheese (Wagashie) and Health Risks Associated with Its Consumption
Journal of Food Quality
title Aflatoxin M1 Contamination of Ghanaian Traditional Soft Cottage Cheese (Wagashie) and Health Risks Associated with Its Consumption
title_full Aflatoxin M1 Contamination of Ghanaian Traditional Soft Cottage Cheese (Wagashie) and Health Risks Associated with Its Consumption
title_fullStr Aflatoxin M1 Contamination of Ghanaian Traditional Soft Cottage Cheese (Wagashie) and Health Risks Associated with Its Consumption
title_full_unstemmed Aflatoxin M1 Contamination of Ghanaian Traditional Soft Cottage Cheese (Wagashie) and Health Risks Associated with Its Consumption
title_short Aflatoxin M1 Contamination of Ghanaian Traditional Soft Cottage Cheese (Wagashie) and Health Risks Associated with Its Consumption
title_sort aflatoxin m1 contamination of ghanaian traditional soft cottage cheese wagashie and health risks associated with its consumption
url http://dx.doi.org/10.1155/2022/7595545
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AT theophilusannan aflatoxinm1contaminationofghanaiantraditionalsoftcottagecheesewagashieandhealthrisksassociatedwithitsconsumption