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FoodInfo Online FSTA Reports 9 July 2010
http://www.foodsciencecentral.com/fsc/ixid15921
© IFIS Publishing 2010 - All Rights Reserved
Getting to the root of cassava food safety in the EU
The increasing number of immigrants in European member states has resulted in a rise in the number of food stores aimed at particular ethnic and/or cultural sectors. These include shops and markets selling novel fruits and vegetables such as cassava tubers.
The influx of novel commodities has implications for chemical food safety and the possibility of inherent natural but unfamiliar toxicants. Over the past decade, data on natural food plant toxicants have been compiled and evaluated to assess the risk to human health and develop strategies to minimise such risk. Various regulations have since been introduced within the EU to deal with novel foods and novel food ingredients, based on formal safety assessments.
Cassava roots contain the toxic cyanogenic glucosides linamarin and lotaustralin, which produce toxic hydrogen cyanide upon decomposition. Cassava cultivars are classified as sweet (cool) or bitter, depending on whether tubers can be eaten without prior processing. A bitter taste often corresponds to higher levels of linamarin and lotaustralin. It is therefore important that any commercial production of cassava-based products focuses on food safety.
A study by Kolind-Hansen and Brimer1, surveyed the retail market for fresh cassava tubers in Copenhagen, Denmark. Information was collected on shop characteristics, origin of cassava tuber purchasers, knowledge of the shop owner about toxicity and actual toxicity levels in tubers. The main finding was that shop owners and purchasers had very limited knowledge about potential toxicity. A high proportion (76%) of tubers had total cyanogenic potentials above the 50 mg HCN equivalents per kg dry weight proposed by an EU working group, suggesting that decisions need to be made about the regulation and control of imported cassava tubers and cassava products.
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1 Kolind-Hansen, L; Brimer, L (2010). The retail market for fresh cassava root tubers in the European Union (EU): the case of Copenhagen, Denmark - a chemical food safety issue? Journal of the Science of Food and Agriculture 90 252-256.
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