Ngure Francis M, Makule Edna, Mgongo William, Phillips Erica, Kassim Neema, Stoltzfus Rebecca, Nelson Rebecca
Research Consultant, Arusha, Tanzania.
Department of Food Biotechnology and Nutritional Sciences, School of Life Science and Bio-Engineering, The Nelson Mandela African Institution of Science and Technology (NM-AIST), P.O.Box 447, Arusha, Tanzania.
Food Control. 2024 Aug;162:110463. doi: 10.1016/j.foodcont.2024.110463.
Designing and implementing processing procedures for producing safe complementary foods in dynamic and unregulated food systems where common food staples are frequently contaminated with mycotoxins is challenging. This paper presents lessons about minimizing aflatoxins (AF) in groundnut flour and AF and/or fumonisins (FUM) in maize and groundnut pre-blended flour for complementary feeding in the context of a dietary research intervention in rural Tanzania. The flours were processed in collaboration with Halisi Products Limited (Halisi), a medium scale enterprise with experience in milling cereal-based flours in Arusha, Tanzania. Using a hazard analysis critical control point (HACCP) approach for quality assurance, two critical control points (CCPs) for AF in processing the pre-blended flour were identified: 1) screening maize before procurement, and 2) blending during the processing of each constituent flour. Blending of maize flour was also identified as a CCP for FUM. Visual inspection during screening and sorting were identified as important control measures for reducing AF, but these steps did not meet the criteria for a CCP due to lack of objective measurement and verifiable standards for AF. The HACCP approach enabled the production of low AF (<5 μg/kg) and FUM (<2 μg/g) flours with low rejection rates for the final products. The paper presents practical lessons that could be of value to a range of commercial processors in similar low- and middle-income contexts who are keen on improving food quality.
在常见主食经常被霉菌毒素污染的动态且无规范的食品系统中，设计和实施生产安全辅食的加工流程具有挑战性。本文介绍了在坦桑尼亚农村地区的一项饮食研究干预背景下，将花生粉中的黄曲霉毒素（AF）以及玉米和花生预混粉中的AF和/或伏马毒素（FUM）降至最低的经验教训。这些面粉是与Halisi Products Limited（Halisi）合作加工的，Halisi是一家位于坦桑尼亚阿鲁沙的中型企业，在研磨谷物面粉方面有经验。采用危害分析关键控制点（HACCP）方法进行质量保证，确定了预混粉加工过程中AF的两个关键控制点（CCP）：1）采购前筛选玉米，以及2）在各成分面粉加工过程中进行混合。玉米粉的混合也被确定为FUM的一个CCP。筛选和分拣过程中的目视检查被确定为降低AF的重要控制措施，但由于缺乏AF的客观测量和可验证标准，这些步骤不符合CCP的标准。HACCP方法使得能够生产出低AF（<5 μg/kg）和FUM（<2 μg/g）的面粉，且最终产品的拒收率较低。本文介绍了一些实用经验教训，可能对其他热衷于提高食品质量、处于类似低收入和中等收入背景下的商业加工企业有价值。
