Pay attention to your grains

Molds grow everywhere and we barely notice! They are the one of the most visible microorganism in food yet they are rarely taken as dangerous. Molds grow on wide range of foods especially decaying or moist grains. Most people just see molds as a sign of decaying food but really do not know the implication of a growing mold. Have you ever seen wool like growths on foods with different shades of color? Could be white, black, orange, combination of colors. Sometimes it is also dust like on products like corn, groundnuts and melon seeds. That exactly is a mold, a Fungi that grows on food and uses up the nutrient and in turn leaves a metabolite-waste product- known as Mycotoxin(aflatoxin being the most dangerous). Many of us go ahead and scrape off the mold, or just cook the grain not knowing that they left behind a deadly toxin in them. Aflatoxin are very dangerous and are actually one of the leading sources of chronic food poisoning

. The question is, how bad is the aflatoxin? The truth is, very very bad!

There are two main ways people are usually exposed to aflatoxins. The first is when someone takes in a high amount of aflatoxins in a very short time. This can cause:

·         Liver damage

• Liver cancer
• Mental impairment
• Abdominal Pain
• Vomiting
• Convulsions
• Edema
• Pulmonary Edema
• Hemorrhaging
• Disruption of food digestion, absorption or metabolism
• Coma
• Death

·        
The other way people suffer aflatoxin poisoning is by taking in small amounts of aflatoxins at a time(chronic poisoning), but over a long period. This might happen if a person's diet has a small amount of aflatoxins, for example. When this happens it can cause:

·         Growth and development impairment

• Liver cancer due to DNA mutation caused by aflatoxins

How do we avoid aflatoxin?

Farmers may know little or nothing about this menace, unfortunately, contamination occurs through the soil because these molds grow in the soil and that’s how they affect crops like groundnut.

You may want to avoid buying crops you are not sure of, especially grains like groundnut or maize. It is also advised that you discard any grain with moldy growth(do not scrape/wash off and use) and ensure you keep your grains dry in air tight containers to avoid the Aspergillus growth. Do not leave your grains open to atmosphere or in nylons inside your kitchen! Get air tight bowls and store your grains in them.

Remember, if you are not sure, do not consume

NOTE:One of the reasons our groundnut and cocoa didn’t make it to the international market anymore is because we didn’t control the aflatoxin levels in them. The groundnut pyramids didn’t just disappear; we didn’t take control measures. We stand the same risk with our cocoa market, if you have a cocoa farm and need help, please contact me directly.