2. Ochratoxin A

Ochratoxins are a group of chemically related mycotoxins commonly found in diverse food items like grains, coffee, cocoa, tubers, dried fruits, wine, beer and animal based meals meals As mycotoxins they are poisons produced by moulds on food, particularly in unhygienic regime. Ochratoxin A or OTA is the most important and toxic member of the family. OTA was first, in 1965 isolated from Aspergillus ochraceus, a fungus. However, as a result of contemporary advances in molecular studies, this fungus from which OTA was originally isolated was later identified as Aspergillus westerdjikiae. That was in the year 2004. Another fungal species known to produce OTA is Penicillium. The importance of this mycotoxin lies in its impact on health and export. And like most mycotoxins, OTA is associated with climatic and economic challenge. Exposure to dietary OTA in animal may result in ochratoxicosis, expressing as cancer of the kidney. In fact it has been classified as group 2B carcinogen by the International Agency for Research on Cancer IARC , meaning that it is a possible carcinogen for humans .The IARC is an arm of the WHO.

The FAO/Who publication of 2001 revealed that the Joint Expert Committee on Food Additives (JECFA) established a provisional tolerable weekly intake (PTWI) of 100 ng/kg body weight based on the lower amount of the toxin that caused adverse effects to swine kidneys . J L Schaler has reported that male and female Fischer rats given oral doses of OTA had dose- related increase in kidney tumors: renal-cell adenomas, and renal-cell adeno-carcinomas. With metastasis of the renal cell tumors. It also has an adverse effect on the the body weight, feed intake, and feed conversion in broiler chicken

Humans: Balkan endemic neuropathy (BEN) associated with OTA occurs in countries like Bulgaria, Croatia, Turkey, Egypt, and Yugoslavia where OTA is relatively high in the diet. Individuals with BEN were surveyed for the presence of urinary tract tumors. The incidence of tumors in the urinary system was elevated in both men and women. The poison damages the foetus and the DNA The major source of OTA in the diet in Europe are cereals and wine. Coffee was thought to be important in this respect, but is now considered less significant. Researchers in a few Nigerian Universities and at the Cocoa Research Institute of Nigeria have worked on the incidence of ochratoxin on coffee

Like all mycotoxins, setting of standard that are allowable in meals is based on toxicological, occurrence, distribution and epidemiological data . Some European countries have set limits ranging from 2-10 microgram per kilogram in cereals ,roasted coffee, wine and grape juice. Although Nigeria now adopts EU standards for available regulated mycotoxins, enforcement on OTA limits in food and feed are fairly lax . The Standards Organization of Nigeria is saddled with setting and monitoring standards . However this mandate is expected to be carried out in complimentary ways with the efforts of the NAFDAC, Nigerian Agricultural Quarantine Service, Nigerian Export Promotion Council, and Consumer Protection Council. On the global scale, the World Trade Organisation (WTO) Agreements on Sanitary and Phytosanitary Measures (SPS) and Technical Barriers to Trade (TBT), promote greater harmonization and transparency in the establishment of food regulations that protect the consumer and facilitate trade.

It is relatively heat stable and so can survive cooking processes. Processing like roasting and baking may lead to a slight reduction in levels. On the field, ensuring that crops are harvested at a safe moisture level is a sure preventive measure. Safe moisture prevents mould growth and so OTA production. Rapid and effective drying, ruling out insect invasion and avoidance of damage resulting in wounds as well as physical separation are also effective postharvest strategies

Get involved. Please make your comment……. and contributions

Dele Fapohunda

07/14

That Fayose has won Ekiti governorship election is no longer in doubt. Even the incumbent Fayemi has admitted that. Now lets review  afew  lessons

1    Articles in Newspapers don’t win elections, the Politian himself does. Otherwise with the regular columns in a newspaper s openly sympathetic to the Fayemi, it would have a walkover. But the writers forget that the last time such outing was made in National Concord, everybody knew that the Concord did not win for Abiola, Abiola won for himself. Having  an ability to cut through barriers, religious and ethnic with a knife-in -butter ease, kit was clear MKO was indeed the one to beat.. Therefore for the Presidential election still coming in 2015, more of attacks on the President should be done on pages of newspapers, because it may not yield the desired result. Let each candidate come out and identify with the jobless, the hopeless, and the  frustrated.

2     Activism is different from political astuteness. This is why  the Nobel laureate may not win an election in his place of birth even when it is clear that he has all the ideas. When Fayemi focussed on the elderly by giving them monthly stipends, Fayose aligned with youth who are unemployed and promised the gainful employment. Whether the promise is achievable is a topic  for  another   day. Remember, the elderly are few in n umber and had no capacity to mobilise due to obvious old age, while the youth are more in number and having the energy to  move and mobilize. Again, sometimes reality   and hard facts can be counterproductive when communicated to the hungry. Ekiti is a state of teachers and civil servants. It is the height of political foolishness to denial them the simple rights they used to enjoy. Panicky appeasing measures , few days to   election would not fly.. Another bitter issue in the south west is the belief that all contracts awarded in Ekiti, Osun, Oyo, Ogun and Edo are been vetted and captured by a man in Bourdillon. The residents of these states which are collectively poorer than Lagos expected rightly that these contracts belong to them. This                 ‘Ajel e syndrome ‘  is another sour point  which is critical to the election in Osun coming in few days time.

Hello world