Abstract:
In Ghana most households and restaurants use aluminum cooking utensils to prepare food, however, few studies have considered the possibility of the leaching of the metal into foods. For this reason, the major goal of this study was to determine the amount of aluminium leached from aluminium-made cooking utensils into selected cooked foods namely: fresh tomatoes, rice, and cocoyam leaves. Three different brands of aluminium cooking utensils were chosen from a local market specifically Kotoburaba market, Cape Coast, in the Central Region of Ghana and labelled A, B, and C to cook the food samples for the study. Samples were purchased from the Kotoburaba market for the nine-week research study. Each week, the samples underwent preparation and an analysis to determine the amount of aluminum present both before and after cooking.The acquired data were analysed using a one-way analysis of variance (ANOVA). The results presented p-values greater than 0.05. Results obtained indicate that cocoyam leaves (nkontomire) recorded the highest amount of leached aluminium metal with 3.54mg/kg±1.23 from the utensil, followed closely by tomatoes with 3.16mg/kg±1.87 and the least being rice with 2.67mg/kg±1.38 over the nine weeks. The type of aluminium utensils used, their prior use, the pH of the food, it’s form and content, the cooking duration and the presence of silica and other ions such as F- were considered as conditions that facilitate the leaching of aluminium into foods. This study contributes to improving the knowledge of health practitioners, cooks and food lovers about the health effects of cooking in aluminium manufactured utensils. Food vendors and users of aluminium cooking utensils should be educated on the toxicological effects of using aluminium utensils by FDA and GHS sections in Cape Coast.
