ABSTRACT
Industrially made commercial flour mostly used as staple food by man were analyzedfor the level of aluminium and fluoride. All the nine samples analyzed contains aluminium indicating that the manufacturers used aluminium compounds as anticaking agent. The value obtained range from 5.21 to 8.79mg/kg of sample. Most of the samples contained fluoride in the range of 0.05 to 0.08mg/kg of sample, except two out of the nine samples that the fluoride levels were not detected. Although, levels of aluminium obtained are within the limit stated by FAO and WHO standard, it is recommended that alternative additives be used in place of aluminium compounds.
CHAPTER ONE
1.0 INTRODUCTION
Flour is a fine powder made from cereal grains or other starchy food sources. It is not commonly made from wheat and they are used as ingredient in many foods which are highly consumed in our society today. Due to the short shelf life, additives are added to prevent early deterioration. Nowadays, most people tends to eat the ready made food available in the market, rather than preparing it at home. Such food or food stuffs contain some kind of additives, so that the quality is maintained and they are not spoiled by bacteria and yeasts. A large number of additives as well as preservatives are available in the market, which are used as antioxidants and anti-microbial agents. Aluminium are commonly present in most of the flour additives, although they are essential for food storage, they can give rise to certain health problems. Aluminium toxicity has been associated with many health challenges like the Alzheimer's disease (Bharathi, et al., 2008), dementia in dialysis patients (D'Haese, et al., 1997), impaired parathyroid function (National Library of Medicine, 2000), and many other diseases. The presence of fluorides increases the absorption/level of aluminium in plasma (Allain, et al., 1996), Mullenix, et al. (1995) demonstrated that the presence of fluoride caused more aluminum to cross the blood-brain barrier and be deposited in the brain of rats. The more the absorption of the aluminium, the more the danger of exposure to the diseases associated with it.
1.1 AIMS AND OBJECTIVES
Given the negative impact of aluminium on human health as earlier stated, it is important to establish whether aluminium compounds are used as additives in the production of flour products which are used for staple food as well as those used in producing bread,cakes, and other baked products. The aim of this project work therefore is to determine the level of aluminium and fluoride in some brands of industrially made commercial flour in the society. The results obtained will help in accertaining whether or otherwise consumers of these food products are exposed to aluminium compounds.
REFERENCES
Ahn, H.W., Fulton, B., Moxon, D. and Jeffery, E.H. (1995): ''Interactive Effect of Fluoride and Aluminium uptake and Accumulation in Bones of Rabbits Administered Both Agents in their Drinking Water.'' J. Toxicol. Environ. Health 44(3):337-350.
Allen, J.L. and Cumming F.J. (1996): "Aluminium in Food and Water Supply: an Australian perspective." Melbourne: Urban Water Research Association of Australia.
Altmann, P., Cunningham, J., Dhanasha, U., Ballard
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