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As a cheap source of high-quality protein, healthy fats and essential nutrients, dried fish is a common item in the daily diet of the Bangladesh populace. In this study, ten types of widely consumed dried fish ( H. neherius, T. lepturu, P.chinensis, P. affinis, A. mola, P. microdon, I. megaloptera, C. dussumieri, L. calcarifer, and G. chapra ) were analyzed for Cr, Mn, Fe, Co, Cu, Zn, Se, Rb, Hg, Pb, Ni and As by using an Energy Dispersive X-ray Fluorescence (EDXRF) technique. The concentration of the studied metals was found in the order Fe > Zn > Hg > Cu > Se > Cr > Mn > Co > Rb > Pb, while As and Ni were below the limit of detection. All fish species showed moderate to high pollution, where the species H. Neherius and P. Chinensis are the most and least polluted ones, respectively. The probable source of contamination is the leaching from the drying pans into the fish samples, atmospheric deposition, anthropogenic contamination, etc. of the water body where these fish were harvested. The calculated hazard index for the general population was below the maximum limiting value (i.e., < 1) except for Hg to children. The carcinogenic risk showed values lower than the acceptable limit for cancer risks (10 –6 to 10 –4 ). Periodic monitoring of trace metals in the aquatic organisms along with fish is recommended to avoid any unexpected health hazards caused by the toxic heavy metals via fish consumption.

Branched-chain fatty acids (BCFA) are bioactive food components that constitute about 2 % of fatty acids in cows' milk fat. There are few systematic data available on the BCFA content of other foods to estimate dietary intakes. In the present study, we report BCFA distribution and content of fresh and processed foods representing the major foods in the American diet and estimate BCFA intake. BCFA are primarily components of dairy and ruminant food products, and are absent from chicken, pork and salmon. The mean BCFA intake of 500 mg/d was delivered primarily from dairy and beef food products; by comparison, average intake of the widely studied long-chain PUFA EPA and DHA has been estimated to be 100 mg/d. Common adjustments in the diet could double the daily intake of BCFA. The fermented foods sauerkraut and miso had appreciable fractions of BCFA, but, overall, they are low-fat foods providing very small amounts of BCFA in the diet, and other fermented foods did not contain BCFA as might have been expected from the influence of microbial exposure. These data support the quantitative importance of BCFA delivered primarily from dairy and beef food products and highlight the need for research into their effects on health.

Warnings have recently been proposed as a new type of directive front-of-pack (FOP) nutrition labelling scheme to flag products with high content of key nutrients. In the present work, this system was compared with the two most common FOP nutrition labelling schemes (Guideline Daily Amounts (GDA) and traffic-light system) in terms of goal-directed attention, influence on perceived healthfulness and ability to differentiate between products. Design/Setting/Subjects Goal-directed attention to FOP labels was evaluated using a visual search task in which participants were presented with labels on a computer screen and were asked to indicate whether labels with high sodium content were present or absent. A survey with 387 participants was also carried out, in which the influence of FOP labels on perceived healthfulness and ability to identify the healthful alternative were evaluated. Warnings improved consumers' ability to correctly identify a product with high content of a key nutrient within a set of labels compared with GDA and received the highest goal-directed attention. In addition, products with high energy, saturated fat, sugar and/or sodium content that featured warnings on the label were perceived as less healthful than those featuring the GDA or traffic-light system. Warnings and the traffic-light system performed equally well in the identification of the most healthful product. Results from the present work suggest that warnings have potential as directive FOP nutrition labels to improve consumer ability to identify unhealthful products and highlight advantages compared with the traffic-light system.

Bisphenol-A (BPA) is a synthetic chemical ubiquitous in the environment and listed as an endocrine disruptor. It has the tendency of migrating into food stored in materials containing it. This study, therefore, determines the concentrations of BPA in foods commonly consumed in Southwest Nigeria by the adult population and also estimates the risk associated with human exposure. Eight different food categories were selected for this study. Standard QuEChERS protocol was used for sample extraction and analysed using gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS). Vegetable oil had the highest BPA concentration (28.4 ng/g). This was followed by aquatic canned fish (26.3 ng/g), canned beef (21.3 ng/g) and crayfish (17.5 ng/g). These concentrations were below the 600 ng/g limit of the European Commission for BPA in foods. Bisphenol-A was not detected in raw beef, chicken, cheese, apple, tomatoes, beans and rice; and chicken eggs. The adult population had an average dietary intake of 30.4 ng/kg bw/day. There is no likely occurrence of harmful health effects of BPA in the selected foods with respect to the current concentrations found therein. However, routine monitoring is recommended to prevent human exposure to BPA.

The advent of the internet and smartphone technology has allowed dietary assessment to reach the 21st century! The variety of foods available on the supermarket shelf is now greater than ever before. New approaches to measuring diet may help to reduce measurement error and advance our understanding of nutritional determinants of disease. This advance provides the potential to capture detailed dietary data on large numbers of individuals without the need for costly and time-consuming manual nutrition coding. This aim of the present paper is to review the need for new technologies to measure diet with an overview of tools available. The three main areas will be addressed: (1) development of web-based tools to measure diet; (2) use of smartphone apps to self-monitor diet; (3) improving the quality of dietary assessment through development of an online library of tools. A practical example of the development of a web-based tool to assess diet myfood24 (www.myfood24.org) will be given exploring its potential, limitations and challenges. The development of a new food composition database using back-of-pack information will be described. Smartphone apps used to measure diet with a focus on obesity will be reviewed. Many apps are unreliable in terms of tracking, and most are not evaluated. Accurate and consistent measurement of diet is needed for public health and epidemiology. The choice of the most appropriate dietary assessment method tends to rely on experience. The DIET@NET partnership has developed best practice guidelines for selection of dietary assessment tools, which aim to improve the quality, consistency and comparability of dietary data. These developments provide us with a step-change in our ability to reliably characterise food and nutrient intake in population studies. The need for high-quality, validated systems will be important to fully realise the benefits of new technologies.

Bisphenol A (BPA) is a chemical produced in large quantities for use primarily in the production of polycarbonate plastics, which has risks for human health. This study aimed to investigate BPA contents in canned fruit and vegetable samples using Gas Chromatography-Mass Spectrometry (GC-MS). Furthermore, health risks were assessed for Iranian adults and children using Monte Carlo simulations. The mean concentration of BPA in canned samples of lentils, apricots, cherries, pineapples, eggplant stew, and green peas was 21.87, 4.52, 3.92, 1.86, 1.67 and 1.62 µg/kg, respectively. The level of BPA in the samples was within the standard level. The pH value in canned fruits varied from 3.6 to 4.7 (mean = 4.15) and in canned vegetables from 4.3 to 5.9 (mean = 5.21). The mean sugar content was 41.42% (ranged 38–48%), and the mean fat value was 24.234% (ranged 24.7–48%). The 95th percentile EDI values of BPA in canned fruit for adults and children were 6.12E-08, and 2.16E-07 mg/kg bw/day; and in canned vegetables were 1.78E-07, and 6.26E-07 mg/kg bw/day, respectively. The 95th percentile THQ values in canned fruit for adults and children were 1.48E-06 and 5.24E-06, and in canned vegetables were 3.56E-06 and 1.27E-05, respectively, and HQ was less than 1. According to the obtained results, it can be concluded that the contents of BPA in canned fruits and vegetables do not pose a safety concern for consumers in Iran.

The increasing availability of packaged foods plays a key role in nutritional transition. This study examined the healthiness of the Australian packaged food supply using a range of different metrics; 40,664 packaged products from The George Institute’s FoodSwitch database were included. Median and interquartile range (IQR) were determined for each measure of nutrient composition; mean and standard deviation (SD) for the measure based upon Health Star Rating (HSR); and proportions (%) for the measures based upon products with a higher HSR, classification of foods as either core or discretionary, extent of processing and proportions of foods that met reformulation targets for sodium, saturated fat and total sugars. Overall median (IQR) values were 1093 (1256) kJ/100 g for energy, 1.7 (6.3) g/100 g for saturated fat, 5.3 (21.4) g/100 g for total sugars, 163 (423) g/100 g for sodium and 50 (100) g or mL for serving size. Overall mean (SD) HSR was 2.8 (1.4), proportion with HSR < 3.5 was 61.8%, proportion of foods defined as discretionary was 53.0% and proportion of foods defined as highly processed was 60.5%. There were sodium targets set for 21,382/40,664 (53%) foods and achieved for 14,126/40,664 (35%). Corresponding figures for saturated fat were 328/40,664 (0.8%) and 130/40,664 (0.3%). Nutrient profiling, dietary guidelines and the extent of food processing provided comparable assessments of the nutritional quality of Australia’s packaged food supply. Individual measures of nutrient composition did not, but may be of value for identifying specific foods of concern.

Chickpea and broad bean dips are among the most popular legume-based dishes in the Middle Eastern countries. They are either made freshly by restaurants or sold in cans. Various manufacturing processes may enhance or reduce the chemical compositions of any food products, including these dips, which in turn can affect their nutritional values and health benefits. Therefore, this study aimed to evaluate the nutritional values of the chickpea and broad bean dips and examine the possible differences between those made freshly and those sold as canned products. Fresh-made and canned chickpea and broad bean dips were obtained from various restaurants and factories in Jordan and were analyzed for their proximate analysis, titratable acidity, and pH value. Furthermore, vitamins B were analyzed using liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry. Significant differences were detected between fresh-made and canned chickpea dips, with the former containing higher quantities of fiber (10.96g ± 0.32) while the latter containing higher quantities of proteins (8.06g ± 0.29), fats (8.05g ± 1.08), and the vitamins B1 (0.46 ± 0.02) and B5 (0.87 ± 0.02). On the other hand, a significant difference was detected between fresh-made and canned broad bean dips, while the latter contained higher quantities of carbohydrates (20.94g ± 0.78) and tested B-vitamins (except for B6). These detected differences may be due to different variances of chickpeas and broad beans used, preparation methods, and/or the addition of other ingredients. Our results indicate that both chickpea and broad bean dips prepared/sold in Jordan were of high nutrition values in terms of proximate analysis, and vitamins B, with higher quantities observed in the canned dips. Higher titratable acidity and lower pH were also significantly found in the canned dips. This study adds to the existing literature regarding the fresh-made and canned chickpea and broad beans dips produced and sold in Jordan. Moreover, this study shows that canned chickpea and broad beans dips can provide consumers with comparable nutrient values to those provided by the freshly made dips. Nevertheless, these findings warrant more investigations.

Canned pickled cucumbers, tomato paste, and olives are three commonly consumed products in Iranian households that may be a source of heavy metals for individuals due to the type of packaging. Therefore, in this study, samples of these three types of food were collected from the market and were measured for mineral and heavy metal content. The levels of metals including Cadmium, Copper, Arsenic, Iron, Lead, and Zinc were determined using an AAS- Flame and Graphite furnace. Moreover, the concentrations of Mercury and Tin were determined using the ICP-MS. In canned cucumber samples, only two metals, tin and lead, were detected. The levels of heavy metals in these three products were compared using statistical tests. A significant difference was observed in the amount of cadmium ( p  < 0.05). The average lead content in these three products was above the permissible limit. The levels of copper, arsenic, iron, cadmium, zinc, mercury, and tin in the canned food samples were found to be within the acceptable limits set by national and international regulatory authorities.

Food poisoning is one of the most addressed health issues and has raised notable concerns. Histamine is the biogenic amine responsible for scombroid poisoning, which is due to the histidine decarboxylation by bacterial decarboxylases in various types of fish and fish products. The present investigation was conducted to measure the concentration of histamine in canned fish samples of tuna in oil ( = 18), tuna in oil with vegetables ( = 15), tuna in brine ( = 9), kilka in oil ( = 9), sardine in oil ( = 3), and mackerel in oil ( = 6) collected from markets in Tehran, Iran. Histamine concentrations were determined with a high-performance liquid chromatography device equipped with a UV detector. For method validation, the correlation coefficient ( ), recovery percentage, relative standard deviation for repeatability, limit of detection, and limit of quantification were 0.99, 82%, 1.3%, 1.5 mg/kg, and 5 mg/kg, respectively. Histamine was detected in 46.6% of the samples, and 18.3% of samples exceeded the histamine limit stipulated by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (50 mg/kg). The overall mean histamine concentration was 17.36 ± 15.44 mg/kg, with a range of 0 to 88 mg/kg. A significant difference in histamine concentration was found between canned tuna in oil and canned tuna in brine ( < 0.05). However, no significant difference in histamine concentration was found among samples of canned tuna in brine, canned sardine in oil, canned kilka in oil, and canned mackerel in oil. Because of the high histamine concentrations detected in some brands of Iranian canned tuna, precise control programs, hazard analysis critical control point systems, and good hygiene practices should be implemented.