•FUNAAB don warns
Frying or cooking locally-processed cheese before eating and avoiding the intake of raw and locally-made milk would reduce the risk of either or both microbial and organic contamination.
Dr. Eniola Fabusoro of the Department of Agricultural Extension and Rural Development, College of Agricultural Management and Rural Development (COLAMRUD), Federal University of Agriculture, Abeokuta (FUNAAB), disclosed this while explaining his research findings on Consumers Perception of Microbial and Organic Contamination of Milk, locally produced by Fulani pastoralists, whom he had worked with for the past 10 years.
According to Dr. Fabusoro, his team members made their observation based on the previous study and their experiences that Fulani milk and cheese, popularly known as Nunu and Wara are usually processed under unhygienic environment. He noted that milk and cheese, which are common food items in both urban and rural Nigeria, are the major sources of livelihood for the Fulani women, who generate the sum of between N600 and N700 daily. This, he added, was more than the World Bank poverty line of $2 per day, as of the time of the study. Normally, this income helped in taking care of their households and assisting their children. He also found out that the cows were usually milked everyday around 6am by the men, while the women processed them around 8am as well as between 8.30am and 9am, when the product is ready for sale.
Dr. Fabusoro, who is also the Acting Head, Department of Agricultural Extension and Rural Development, disclosed that his team tried to find out if the consumers were aware that the milk and cheese they were consuming were contaminated as established by the previous studies such as those of Omotayo et al (2005). He asked, if the people were aware, why are they still consuming them? He added that they decided to look at the Concept of Health Belief of different people and they found out that some continue to consume the items because of economic reasons. To some, it is their only affordable source of protein, To some, they have been taking them for years and have not experienced any health-related problems after consumption, adding that the consumers have low knowledge of the health risk associated with the continuous consumption of contaminated food.
The university don said that their study went further to determine bacteria contamination in milk and cheese, determination of heavy metal contamination in milk and cheese, determination of phthalate esters in cheese, consumers perception of safety of the milk and cheese plus their health beliefs.
According to the researcher, they looked at the contamination level, the extent of the microbial and bacterial contamination, heavy metals and phthalate, He said phthalate are esters of phthalic acid and are mainly used as plasticisers (substances added to plastics to increase their flexibility, transparency, durability, and longevity). He added that they are organic substances, which if injected at a certain level to human body, could cause cancer. So, they checked to see if phthalate had entered the cheese as a result of increase in temperature from the sun since they are packed in nylon, put in a plastic and hawked under the sun. Dr. Fabusoro further disclosed that after they tested the Wara, they found out that phthalate had entered into it, adding that heavy metals, which are substances that can be taken from the soil by the cattle when they are grazing in a farm, spread with chemicals for pest control, the residue of these chemicals in the soil might enter the plant and when eaten by the cattle, it will go into their blood streams and pass into the milk. When they tested the Wara, they found out that they were contaminated with heavy metals like Cadmium, Chromium, Nickel, Lead, Copper and Zinc. Three bacterial were seen, out of the six that were investigated, the three are Escherichia coli, Coliform bacteria and Staphylococcus aureus.
The researcher said that after analysing their findings, they were in a dilemma since they found out that Wara and pastoral milk prepared by Fulani women were not fit for human consumption, because of the high level of contaminations by heavy metals, bacteria and phthalate esters. Yet, these products were the main source of income for the women.
He added that these contaminations have grievous implications on public health. Though the perception of the consumers is favourable to the continued consumption of the products, the risk factor for public nutrition and health should be of concern to policy makers and development experts in Nigeria. He noted that continued consumption implies low knowledge of food safety issues among consumers, adding that reducing the level of contaminations in pastoral milk and cheese should be of high priority to government and development experts as the livelihoods of Fulani women depended on it. He noted that it will be important to ensure a balance between public health issues and livelihoods security of pastoral Fulani.
The researcher added that the major challenges he encountered were getting to know that there were other contaminants apart from bacterial contamination, identifying the level of contamination and why people were still consuming it. He further noted that the research was of great benefit to the economy because when you empower a woman, they will cater for the children and the entire household, noting that improved processing of these products would promote food security and Gross Domestic Product of the country.
He called on government agencies, extension organisations, research institutes and development partners to invest in trainings, seminars and workshops for the general public and Fulani pastoralists on food safety awareness and attitudinal change towards contaminated food substances, adding that the capacity of Fulanis should be developed to carry out food safety practices during milking and processing.
Dr. Fabusoro also called on the government to assist in improving the technology base of processing these products so that the Fulanis will be able to process their milk, free of contamination, which would give the products more commercial value, safer for consumption by providing enough income for their upkeep. He also suggested that more studies should be done to identify critical points like the grazing point, milking point, processing point and storage point, adding that more permanent schools should be built for them so that their children would be better informed and educated.
