The Noguchi Memorial Institute for Medical Researchers at the University of Ghana conducted research and found that brukina; the millet and dairy milk used to make it contain toxic levels of aflatoxins.
This report was released in the Journal of Ghanaian Medicine.
Millet-based fermented milk product Brukina is a popular beverage in Ghana, where it is made and consumed by everyone.
In poor and middle-income nations in the subtropics, aflatoxin exposure poses a severe threat to public health.
Monthly brukina samples were acquired from “brukina” manufacturers over the course of seven months.
Twenty-one samples from the Nima and Ashaiman neighborhoods in Accra were collected for testing.
According to the researchers, one sample from Ashaiman and two from Nima tested positive for aflatoxin (AFB1) at levels over the permissible limit, AFM1 levels in samples from Ashaiman and Nima were over the allowable limit.
Aflatoxin, which increases the risk of cancer, was found in several of the “brukina” examined samples.
Aflatoxin-positive millet samples were found in two from Ashaiman and six from Nima (AFB1).
Toxicologist and chief scientist of the Noguchi Memorial Institute for Medical Research Professor Regina Appiah-Opong stated.
“Farmers must also receive training on proper storage techniques and be subject to regulatory agency supervision to protect the public from aflatoxin exposure and toxicity,” says the regulatory agency.
