Assessing the chemical and microbiological quality of farmed tilapia in Egyptian fresh fish markets

Fish make important contributions to food and nutrition security in low and middle income countries; however, they are also prone to contamination with a range of chemical and biological hazards. The presence of people's perception and health hazards has implications for consumer acceptability and h...

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Main Authors: Eltholth, Mahmoud, Fornace, Kimberly, Grace, Delia, Rushton, Jonathan, Häsler, Barbara
Format: Journal Article
Language:Inglés
Published: Elsevier 2018
Subjects:
Online Access:https://hdl.handle.net/10568/92019
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author Eltholth, Mahmoud
Fornace, Kimberly
Grace, Delia
Rushton, Jonathan
Häsler, Barbara
author_browse Eltholth, Mahmoud
Fornace, Kimberly
Grace, Delia
Häsler, Barbara
Rushton, Jonathan
author_facet Eltholth, Mahmoud
Fornace, Kimberly
Grace, Delia
Rushton, Jonathan
Häsler, Barbara
author_sort Eltholth, Mahmoud
collection Repository of Agricultural Research Outputs (CGSpace)
description Fish make important contributions to food and nutrition security in low and middle income countries; however, they are also prone to contamination with a range of chemical and biological hazards. The presence of people's perception and health hazards has implications for consumer acceptability and hence the potential contribution of fish to nutrition and health. The aim of this study was to assess the chemical and microbiological quality of farmed tilapia in Egypt. We conducted a systematic literature review resulting in 38 papers meeting inclusion criteria. We also conducted a survey of seven hazardous chemicals in fish sampled from farms (300 samples from 100 farms) and of 5 biological hazards as well as total bacterial counts in fish sampled from retailers (300 samples from 100 retailers). The results showed that the level of contamination with heavy metals and pesticides was lower than the national and international permissible limits. On the other hand, level of contamination of a considerable proportion of samples with microbial pollutants was higher than the permissible limits. Results from the literature indicated that, the level of contamination of wild tilapia was higher than farmed tilapia, again in contradiction to common perceptions. Our results indicate that the risk of human exposure to heavy metals and pesticides via consumption of farmed tilapia is negligible compared to microbial hazards. These findings suggest that post-harvest contamination is the major health risk in the tilapia fish value chain and we make recommendations for addressing this.
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spelling CGSpace920192025-01-27T15:00:52Z Assessing the chemical and microbiological quality of farmed tilapia in Egyptian fresh fish markets Eltholth, Mahmoud Fornace, Kimberly Grace, Delia Rushton, Jonathan Häsler, Barbara fish food safety markets health Fish make important contributions to food and nutrition security in low and middle income countries; however, they are also prone to contamination with a range of chemical and biological hazards. The presence of people's perception and health hazards has implications for consumer acceptability and hence the potential contribution of fish to nutrition and health. The aim of this study was to assess the chemical and microbiological quality of farmed tilapia in Egypt. We conducted a systematic literature review resulting in 38 papers meeting inclusion criteria. We also conducted a survey of seven hazardous chemicals in fish sampled from farms (300 samples from 100 farms) and of 5 biological hazards as well as total bacterial counts in fish sampled from retailers (300 samples from 100 retailers). The results showed that the level of contamination with heavy metals and pesticides was lower than the national and international permissible limits. On the other hand, level of contamination of a considerable proportion of samples with microbial pollutants was higher than the permissible limits. Results from the literature indicated that, the level of contamination of wild tilapia was higher than farmed tilapia, again in contradiction to common perceptions. Our results indicate that the risk of human exposure to heavy metals and pesticides via consumption of farmed tilapia is negligible compared to microbial hazards. These findings suggest that post-harvest contamination is the major health risk in the tilapia fish value chain and we make recommendations for addressing this. 2018-06 2018-04-04T07:50:49Z 2018-04-04T07:50:49Z Journal Article https://hdl.handle.net/10568/92019 en Open Access Elsevier Eltholth, M., Fornace, K., Grace, D., Rushton, J. and Häsler, B. 2018. Assessing the chemical and microbiological quality of farmed tilapia in Egyptian fresh fish markets. Global Food Security 17: 14–20.
spellingShingle fish
food safety
markets
health
Eltholth, Mahmoud
Fornace, Kimberly
Grace, Delia
Rushton, Jonathan
Häsler, Barbara
Assessing the chemical and microbiological quality of farmed tilapia in Egyptian fresh fish markets
title Assessing the chemical and microbiological quality of farmed tilapia in Egyptian fresh fish markets
title_full Assessing the chemical and microbiological quality of farmed tilapia in Egyptian fresh fish markets
title_fullStr Assessing the chemical and microbiological quality of farmed tilapia in Egyptian fresh fish markets
title_full_unstemmed Assessing the chemical and microbiological quality of farmed tilapia in Egyptian fresh fish markets
title_short Assessing the chemical and microbiological quality of farmed tilapia in Egyptian fresh fish markets
title_sort assessing the chemical and microbiological quality of farmed tilapia in egyptian fresh fish markets
topic fish
food safety
markets
health
url https://hdl.handle.net/10568/92019
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