Acrylamide determination in selected plant-based foods and associated health risk among consumers in Kibera informal settlement in Nairobi City County, Kenya

Simple item page
dc.contributor.authorTowett, Anne Chepngeno
dc.date.accessioned2023-08-09T07:09:54Z
dc.date.available2023-08-09T07:09:54Z
dc.date.issued2023
dc.descriptionA research thesis submitted in fulfillment of the Requirements for the award of the degree of doctor of philosophy in the school of health sciences of Kenyatta university, June 2023en_US
dc.description.abstractAcrylamide is a chemical substance classified as a genotoxin, neurotoxin and a Group 2A carcinogen. It can contribute largely to the disease burden in the world. Acrylamide has been used over time in various ways. It was demonstrated to be present in food as a food processing contaminant in the year 2002. It was found to be in significant amounts in commonly consumed foods. Dietary acrylamide is a key contributor to the exposure of acrylamide in human beings. The leading sources of dietary acrylamide include potato products, cereal products and roasted coffee. The study aimed at determining acrylamide in selected plant-based foods and associated health risk among consumers in Kibera informal settlement in Nairobi City County which was selected purposively. An analytical cross-sectional research design was used to carry out the study. The sample sizes for vendors and consumers were determined using Kothari’s and Fisher’s formulae, respectively. Study participants included 248 vendors and 384 consumers of selected foods who were recruited using convenience sampling technique. Research instruments included researcher- administered closed-ended questionnaire for food vendors and food frequency questionnaire for consumers. Step-on body weight scale was used to take consumers’ weights. A laboratory 4-digit weighing scale was used to weigh the food portion sizes. A total of 162 food samples were collected. A fine blade blender was used to grind and homogenize collected food samples while high performance liquid chromatographyultraviolet (HPLC-UV) machine was used to quantify acrylamide in food samples. Acrylamide was detected in all the samples analyzed. The highest acrylamide concentration was found in crisps (246.9µg/kg) and the least was found in mandazi (44.1µg/kg). All wheat-based samples exceeded the acrylamide Benchmark level (50µg/kg). The average acrylamide knowledge of vendors was 25.8% (poor) and that of consumers was 27.2% (poor). There was a statistically significant difference (p = 0.000) between acrylamide means of food groups analyzed. Acrylamide content was statistically significantly higher in coffee (p<0.05) than in all other food samples. Chapatti contributed most of dietary acrylamide intake at 38.19% with a mean exposure of 0.097 µg/kg bw/day. The average dietary acrylamide intake from the selected foods was 17.008µg/day. All the MOEs computed for consumption of all the selected foods were below 10,000 implying possibility of public health risk for neoplastic effects. All MOEs computed for peripheral neuropathy were of no public health concern. The research concluded that based on the BMDL10 for neoplastic effects, there is a possibility of public health risk for the MOEs below 10,000. The research recommends a diversification of diet by consumers so as to minimize consumption of acrylamide loaded foods. The results are beneficial to food safety teams in Kenya and beyond and also the community where the study was conducted since the results will be an eye opener on acrylamide health related issues surrounding the communities.en_US
dc.description.sponsorshipKenyatta Universityen_US
dc.identifier.urihttp://ir-library.ku.ac.ke/handle/123456789/26657
dc.language.isoenen_US
dc.publisherKenyatta Universityen_US
dc.subjectAcrylamideen_US
dc.subjectplant-based foodsen_US
dc.subjecthealth risken_US
dc.subjectconsumersen_US
dc.subjectKiberaen_US
dc.subjectinformal settlementen_US
dc.subjectNairobi City Countyen_US
dc.subjectKenyaen_US
dc.titleAcrylamide determination in selected plant-based foods and associated health risk among consumers in Kibera informal settlement in Nairobi City County, Kenyaen_US
dc.typeThesisen_US
Files
Original bundle
Now showing 1 - 1 of 1
Thumbnail Image
Name:
Acrylamide determination in selected plant-based foods .....pdf
Size:
1.85 MB
Format:
Adobe Portable Document Format
Description:
PhD Thesis
Download
License bundle
Now showing 1 - 1 of 1
No Thumbnail Available
Name:
license.txt
Size:
1.71 KB
Format:
Item-specific license agreed upon to submission
Description:
Download
Collections
PHD-Department of Environmental Health