Test reveals arsenic in tasty dried squid snacks - CHOICE # 366

Are you in the habit of consuming three or more packages (90 g each) of shredded dried squid every week?

If so - and if your favourite brand happens to contain a high level of arsenic - the Consumer Council warned that you could be running a risk of arsenic poisoning.

Chronic exposure to inorganic arsenic compounds is associated with skin lesions, hyperkeratosis and chronic pathological liver changes.

Further, according to the International Agency for Research on Cancer, there was sufficient evidence that arsenic in drinking water were skin and lung carcinogens in humans.

The health warning followed a Consumer Council test on 65 samples of dried meat products comprising 15 dried beef, 14 dried pork, 13 pork floss, 23 shredded squid and dried fish, sourced from local outlets.

Under the law, the maximum permitted levels of arsenic in squid and fish are 10 mg/kg and 6 mg/kg respectively. In the test, the amount of arsenic found in 8 shredded squid samples ranged from 12.7 mg/kg to 35.3 mg/kg and 1 dried fish sample 7.7 mg/kg.

In one shredded squid sample, the total arsenic (both organic and inorganic) found was a high 35.3 mg/kg.

It is stipulated in the Provisional Tolerable Weekly Intakes (PTWI) of JECFA (Joint FAO/WHO Expert Committee on Food Additives) that the amount of inorganic arsenic that can be ingested weekly for a 60 kg person is 0.9 mg.

So, consuming three packages (90 g each) of the sample detected with 35.3 mg/kg total arsenic (assuming 10% of it was inorganic) in a week may already have exceeded the weekly tolerable level.

The Consumer Council has referred the findings of arsenic in these popular snacks to the Centre for Food Safety (CFS) for suspected breach of the Food Adulteration (Metallic Contamination) Regulations.

In the opinion of the CFS, occasional excursion above the PTWI would not pose any health implications provided that the average intake over long period does not exceed the PTWI.

On the permitted levels of arsenic in fish and squid under the current legislation, the CFS notes that since dried squid and fish products have undergone drying process, their water contents have been greatly reduced which affects their original ratios.

Therefore, the factor of water reduction may have to be taken into account when determining the permitted levels of arsenic in dried squid and fish products.

Furthermore, excessive amount of the preservative benzoic acid (2,760 mg/kg) was detected also in 1 shredded squid and sorbic acid in another sample.

Acute intoxication due to benzoic acid is unlikely. Excessive daily intake of benzoic acid in a long-term may cause gastrointestinal disturbances; some patients suffering from asthma, rhinitis, or urticaria may experience exacerbation of these symptoms after ingesting food with benzoic acid.

14 samples of dried beef, dried pork and pork floss were also found with benzoic acid and sorbic acid but, in this case, their presence is questionable as their permitted limits are not specified under the Preservatives in Food Regulations.

It is suspected that the two preservatives might have come from the soy sauce or other flavourings used in the production.

In addition, the test found rather high sodium and sugar contents in these tasty dried foods. Consumers are advised of the health risks of habitual consumption of high level of sodium and sugar, and reminded of the importance of a balanced diet to keep healthy.

Overall the microbiological quality of all samples was deemed "satisfactory", having been examined for aerobic colony count, E.coli, Salmonella, S.aureus.

Included in the test were 26 samples - 9 dried beef, 11 dried pork, 6 shredded squid - sourced from outlets in Macau. The dried beef and pork samples were all loose pack products.

By and large, the Macau samples were more or less similar in test results as the Hong Kong samples. And, as with the local samples, most contained quite a high level of sodium and sugar which consumers are advised to pay heed to avoid taking in too much of them.