Cronobacter Support
06-18-2009, 11:38 AM
Posted from ngrguardiannews.com
By Chukwuma Muanya
THE dangers of consuming contaminated milk were debated again last week in Lagos when a young man was hospitalised for food poisoning after consuming a popular brand of milk.
The one litre low-fat (0.3 per cent) paper-packed liquid milk that alleged to have caused food poisoning was manufactured in Germany on July 30, 2008 to expire on July 29, 2009; with National Agency for Food, Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC) Registration Certification number, N0 01- 4099; Batch number, 31- 080730 15:17; and was bought from a Supermarket on Awolowo Road, Ikoyi, Lagos.
The questions are: Since the product was yet to expire, how, when, where, and why did the milk pack get contaminated?
Until now, despite being a rich source of calcium and protein, milk products besides breast milk have been associated with Type 1 diabetes, food poisoning, allergies, rheumatoid arthritis, cancer to mention but a few.
Milk products contaminated with melamine have been shown to cause kidney failure. Melamine is a plastic-making industrial compound that is added to milk powder to cheat quality test. Last year, the discovery of six different brands of ice cream marketed in Lagos and Ogun states that were tainted with the toxic chemical, melamine, raised fresh concerns over safety of dairy products and their link with increasing kidney failures across the country.
The Guardian investigation revealed that milk products, when not properly stored, were commonly contaminated by the aflatoxin M1 poisoning produced by a fungus, and listeriosis infection produced by a bacterium.
Aflatoxins are naturally occurring mycotoxins that are produced by many species of Aspergillus, a fungus, most notably Aspergillus flavus and Aspergillus parasiticus. Aflatoxins are toxic and among the most carcinogenic substances known. After entering the body, aflatoxins are metabolized by the liver to a reactive intermediate, aflatoxin M1, an epoxide.
A broad range of symptoms of aflatoxin poisoning can be found depending upon dosage, including, vomiting, abdominal pain haemorrhage, pulmonary edema, acute liver damage including fatty change, loss of function of the digestive tract, convulsions, cerebral edema and death.
Listeriosis is a bacterial infection caused by a gram-positive, motile bacterium, Listeria monocytogenes. Listeriosis is relatively rare and occurs primarily in newborn infants, elderly patients, and patients who are immuno-compromised.
Listeriosis is a serious food-borne disease that can be life threatening to certain individuals. While most cases of listeriosis occur in adults with weakened immune systems, the elderly, pregnant women and newborns, infections can occasionally occur in healthy individuals.
Symptoms include fever, muscle aches and sometime gastrointestinal symptoms such as nausea or diarrhea. The illness may be mild and symptoms are sometimes described as flu-like.
Meanwhile, by the time the contaminated milk pack was brought to The Guardian, it was already producing offensive odour and the pack about to burst due to the pressure created by the germs that have found the milk product a suitable substrate.
The milk pack was immediately taken to NAFDAC's head office at Oshodi, Lagos, to a lodge a complaint. The agency immediately admitted the product and started investigation. The agency said the product has been in the Nigeria market for years.
NAFDAC said because the pack was already open, it could not be sent to the laboratory. "We cannot send this to the laboratory because it is already open. We cannot vouch when it was opened. What we shall do is to go to the supermarket and buy samples with the same batch number for our investigation," said the Deputy Director Establishment Inspectorate Division (EID) NAFDAC, Mrs. Titi Owolabi.
NAFDAC immediately sent some staff to the supermarket to buy some samples of the product with the same batch number. "We went to the supermarket but did not find the products with the same batch number. However, we have bought some samples and sent them to the laboratory for investigation. We also collected samples from the four branches of the supermarket in Lagos," Owolabi said.
The NAFDAC Deputy Director, however, faulted the complaint: "You do not have any receipt showing that you actually bought the product from the supermarket, and I cannot say for sure how the product got contaminated because it was already opened before it was brought here," she said. Owolabi suggested that the problem was unlikely to be from the supermarket.
The Guardian investigation revealed that the said supermarket has four branches at Ikoyi, Lagos Island and Apapa. When The Guardian visited the branch at Awolowo Road on Monday, there was no 1-litre pack of the Fresh Skimmed Longlife Milk on its shelf. They only had powdered sachet of the product. When The Guardian requested for the product, they said they had run out of stock.
The manager of the branch who introduced himself as Ali said: "We do not have that for now. We buy from Kewalrams in Apapa. They do not have that in stock now." He, however, denied knowledge of contaminated batches of the product.
NAFDAC was yet to disclose an update on its investigation on the product. "We are investigating the case but we cannot give you any information now. What I can tell you is that we have sent samples of the product to the laboratory for investigation," Owolabi said.
Before now, there have been local studies on possible contamination of milk products with pathogens (disease-causing microorganisms). A survey was recently undertaken to determine the aflatoxin M1 contamination of milk and some locally produced dairy products in Abeokuta and Odeda local governments of Ogun State, Nigeria.
The researchers from the Departments of Food Science and Technology and Microbiology, University of Agriculture, Abeokuta, Ogun State; and Nigerian Stored Products Research Institute, Ibadan Substation, Onireke, Ibadan, randomly collected samples of human and cow milk, yoghurt, "wara", ice cream and "nono" within the local governments and analysed for aflatoxin M1 using the two-dimensional TLC.
The researchers include Atanda Olusegun; Oguntubo Adenike; Adejumo Oloyede; Ikeorah John; and Akpan Iyang.
According to the study published in Chemosphere, Aflatoxin M1 contamination in the range of 2.04-4.00 -g 1-1 was noticed only in milk and ice cream. In particular, samples of human milk, cow milk and ice cream recorded high scores of 4.0 -g 1-1, 2.04 -g 1-1 and 2.23 tag 1-1, respectively in Abeokuta local governments and a score of 4.0 -g l-1 for cow milk in Odeda local government.
The researchers wrote: "This indicates a high level contamination in the local governments since the weighted mean concentration of aflatoxin M1 in milk for African diet is 0.002 -g l-1. Therefore the concentration of AFB1 in feeds, which is transformed to AFM1 in milk should be reduced by good manufacturing and good storage practices. Furthermore, there is need for stringent quality control during processing and distribution of these products."
A similar case in Boston United States where a milk product was contaminated with listeriosis led to the death of two.
The U.S. Department of Public Health (DPH) issued a warning to consumers not to drink any milk products from f the source because of listeria bacteria contamination. Two people have died.
DPH says there have been a total of four cases of listeriosis infection - all in Worcester County. Three were elderly and the fourth was a pregnant woman.
The two men that died were 78 and 75-years-old and both lived in Worcester County. The pregnant woman survived the infection but suffered a miscarriage.
Donna Rheaume, spokeswoman for the Massachusetts Department of Public Health, said the people who died were elderly and that the listeria was a "contributing factor" in their deaths. DNA testing at the state lab showed that the bacteria causing these infections came from a common source.
cont'd
By Chukwuma Muanya
THE dangers of consuming contaminated milk were debated again last week in Lagos when a young man was hospitalised for food poisoning after consuming a popular brand of milk.
The one litre low-fat (0.3 per cent) paper-packed liquid milk that alleged to have caused food poisoning was manufactured in Germany on July 30, 2008 to expire on July 29, 2009; with National Agency for Food, Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC) Registration Certification number, N0 01- 4099; Batch number, 31- 080730 15:17; and was bought from a Supermarket on Awolowo Road, Ikoyi, Lagos.
The questions are: Since the product was yet to expire, how, when, where, and why did the milk pack get contaminated?
Until now, despite being a rich source of calcium and protein, milk products besides breast milk have been associated with Type 1 diabetes, food poisoning, allergies, rheumatoid arthritis, cancer to mention but a few.
Milk products contaminated with melamine have been shown to cause kidney failure. Melamine is a plastic-making industrial compound that is added to milk powder to cheat quality test. Last year, the discovery of six different brands of ice cream marketed in Lagos and Ogun states that were tainted with the toxic chemical, melamine, raised fresh concerns over safety of dairy products and their link with increasing kidney failures across the country.
The Guardian investigation revealed that milk products, when not properly stored, were commonly contaminated by the aflatoxin M1 poisoning produced by a fungus, and listeriosis infection produced by a bacterium.
Aflatoxins are naturally occurring mycotoxins that are produced by many species of Aspergillus, a fungus, most notably Aspergillus flavus and Aspergillus parasiticus. Aflatoxins are toxic and among the most carcinogenic substances known. After entering the body, aflatoxins are metabolized by the liver to a reactive intermediate, aflatoxin M1, an epoxide.
A broad range of symptoms of aflatoxin poisoning can be found depending upon dosage, including, vomiting, abdominal pain haemorrhage, pulmonary edema, acute liver damage including fatty change, loss of function of the digestive tract, convulsions, cerebral edema and death.
Listeriosis is a bacterial infection caused by a gram-positive, motile bacterium, Listeria monocytogenes. Listeriosis is relatively rare and occurs primarily in newborn infants, elderly patients, and patients who are immuno-compromised.
Listeriosis is a serious food-borne disease that can be life threatening to certain individuals. While most cases of listeriosis occur in adults with weakened immune systems, the elderly, pregnant women and newborns, infections can occasionally occur in healthy individuals.
Symptoms include fever, muscle aches and sometime gastrointestinal symptoms such as nausea or diarrhea. The illness may be mild and symptoms are sometimes described as flu-like.
Meanwhile, by the time the contaminated milk pack was brought to The Guardian, it was already producing offensive odour and the pack about to burst due to the pressure created by the germs that have found the milk product a suitable substrate.
The milk pack was immediately taken to NAFDAC's head office at Oshodi, Lagos, to a lodge a complaint. The agency immediately admitted the product and started investigation. The agency said the product has been in the Nigeria market for years.
NAFDAC said because the pack was already open, it could not be sent to the laboratory. "We cannot send this to the laboratory because it is already open. We cannot vouch when it was opened. What we shall do is to go to the supermarket and buy samples with the same batch number for our investigation," said the Deputy Director Establishment Inspectorate Division (EID) NAFDAC, Mrs. Titi Owolabi.
NAFDAC immediately sent some staff to the supermarket to buy some samples of the product with the same batch number. "We went to the supermarket but did not find the products with the same batch number. However, we have bought some samples and sent them to the laboratory for investigation. We also collected samples from the four branches of the supermarket in Lagos," Owolabi said.
The NAFDAC Deputy Director, however, faulted the complaint: "You do not have any receipt showing that you actually bought the product from the supermarket, and I cannot say for sure how the product got contaminated because it was already opened before it was brought here," she said. Owolabi suggested that the problem was unlikely to be from the supermarket.
The Guardian investigation revealed that the said supermarket has four branches at Ikoyi, Lagos Island and Apapa. When The Guardian visited the branch at Awolowo Road on Monday, there was no 1-litre pack of the Fresh Skimmed Longlife Milk on its shelf. They only had powdered sachet of the product. When The Guardian requested for the product, they said they had run out of stock.
The manager of the branch who introduced himself as Ali said: "We do not have that for now. We buy from Kewalrams in Apapa. They do not have that in stock now." He, however, denied knowledge of contaminated batches of the product.
NAFDAC was yet to disclose an update on its investigation on the product. "We are investigating the case but we cannot give you any information now. What I can tell you is that we have sent samples of the product to the laboratory for investigation," Owolabi said.
Before now, there have been local studies on possible contamination of milk products with pathogens (disease-causing microorganisms). A survey was recently undertaken to determine the aflatoxin M1 contamination of milk and some locally produced dairy products in Abeokuta and Odeda local governments of Ogun State, Nigeria.
The researchers from the Departments of Food Science and Technology and Microbiology, University of Agriculture, Abeokuta, Ogun State; and Nigerian Stored Products Research Institute, Ibadan Substation, Onireke, Ibadan, randomly collected samples of human and cow milk, yoghurt, "wara", ice cream and "nono" within the local governments and analysed for aflatoxin M1 using the two-dimensional TLC.
The researchers include Atanda Olusegun; Oguntubo Adenike; Adejumo Oloyede; Ikeorah John; and Akpan Iyang.
According to the study published in Chemosphere, Aflatoxin M1 contamination in the range of 2.04-4.00 -g 1-1 was noticed only in milk and ice cream. In particular, samples of human milk, cow milk and ice cream recorded high scores of 4.0 -g 1-1, 2.04 -g 1-1 and 2.23 tag 1-1, respectively in Abeokuta local governments and a score of 4.0 -g l-1 for cow milk in Odeda local government.
The researchers wrote: "This indicates a high level contamination in the local governments since the weighted mean concentration of aflatoxin M1 in milk for African diet is 0.002 -g l-1. Therefore the concentration of AFB1 in feeds, which is transformed to AFM1 in milk should be reduced by good manufacturing and good storage practices. Furthermore, there is need for stringent quality control during processing and distribution of these products."
A similar case in Boston United States where a milk product was contaminated with listeriosis led to the death of two.
The U.S. Department of Public Health (DPH) issued a warning to consumers not to drink any milk products from f the source because of listeria bacteria contamination. Two people have died.
DPH says there have been a total of four cases of listeriosis infection - all in Worcester County. Three were elderly and the fourth was a pregnant woman.
The two men that died were 78 and 75-years-old and both lived in Worcester County. The pregnant woman survived the infection but suffered a miscarriage.
Donna Rheaume, spokeswoman for the Massachusetts Department of Public Health, said the people who died were elderly and that the listeria was a "contributing factor" in their deaths. DNA testing at the state lab showed that the bacteria causing these infections came from a common source.
cont'd