A baseline survey on food safety hazards in commonly consumed food items in Sri Lanka

Abstract

In Sri Lanka, a survey was conducted in 2018 to assess the levels of identified hazards in commonly consumed food items. Pesticide residue levels in vegetables, green-leaves and fruits, heavy metals in salt, mercury and formaldehyde in fish, artificial colouring in tea and rice, aflatoxins in chilli powder, peanut and coconut oil and microbiological quality of yoghurt were tested to assess the safety of such foods. 397 fruits, 199 vegetables and 85 green-leave samples were tested for pesticide residues and of them 10.08 % fruit samples, 11.56 % vegetable samples and 41.18 % green-leave samples were detected with the presence of pesticide residues exceeding Maximum Residue Limits (MRL). Among salt samples tested for lead, arsenic, cadmium and mercury, none of the samples exceeded Maximum Permissible Limits (MPL). About one fifth of red raw rice samples were detected with artificial colouring but none of the tea samples had added artificial colourings. Aflatoxin levels exceeding 10 ppm were detected in 8 (10 %) coconut oil, 9 (11.25 %) peanut and 15 (18.75 %) chilli powder samples. All the yoghurt brands tested complied with microbiological specifications given in SLS standard. This survey provides an overview of the level of contaminants and adulterants in commonly consumed food items in Sri Lanka. It is recommended to carry out regular surveillance to monitor food safety hazards.