Lethal cyanide present in cassava

Cassava based mostly merchandise are establishing a growing foothold in the Australian well being meals market, nevertheless, new analysis reveals that some imported merchandise comprise harmful levels of the poison cyanide.

A staple meals for around 800 million folks, the root of the cassava plant, when not correctly processed, accommodates cyanide, which might cause nausea, vomiting, diarrhoea, dizziness, weak spot and death.

New analysis carried out by Asssociate Professor Ros Gleadow, Dr Anna Burns and Dr Timothy Cavagnaro of Monash University’s College of Organic Sciences, along with Dr J. Howard Bradbury from the Australian Nationwide University, examined the cyanide content of a number of merchandise presently obtainable in Melbourne and Canberra.

The testing occurred both earlier than and after the introduction by Meals Standards Australia and New Zealand (FSANZ) of a really helpful cyanide restrict of ten parts per million.

Affiliate Professor Gleadow stated the outcomes indicated that while highly processed merchandise and those manufactured in Australia since January 2011 adhered to food safety standards, some imported products contained comparatively high levels of the poison.

“Probably the most alarming instance of this trend is 262 ppm in a single brand of cassava chips. A baby weighing 20 kg would wish to eat 40g to 270g of these chips to succeed in the deadly dose - doubtlessly that’s only one bag of chips.

“The protection requirements are having a positive effect, nevertheless it’s not clear that there’s any testing or enforcement occurring, which is worrying. We would advocate the introduction of proper labelling and enforcement of the safety standards.”

Professor Gleadow mentioned that because cassava-based mostly meals was not extensively consumed in Australia, it was not perceived as a risk.

“If you happen to look to African and Asian nations, where cassava is a big a part of folks’s diets, the risks of consuming large quantities of the unprocessed root are clear. One of the most devastating outcomes of a monotonous cassava-primarily based food regimen is Konzo, a disease which might trigger everlasting paralysis.”