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Tongue-twister toxin triggers tainted Thriposha debate
View(s):By Kapila Bandara
A Government official heading the state-run Thriposha nutrition packs producer admitted this week that some samples had contained liver cancer-causing aflatoxins, a viral disease that infects corn, a main ingredient in the supplement given to the most needy Sri Lankan children, pregnant women, and lactating mothers.
“There was a small amount with a high level of ‘alfatoxins’ [ie aflatoxins), (from) two to three months earlier. We accept that. Our test reports after production did not show,’’ said Deepthi Kularathna, the chairman of Thriposha Limited.
But, he confidently declared there was no need for “unnecessary fear’’ of fungal contamination.
Deepthi Kularathna chairman of Thriposha Limited
Only one of seven samples tested in Kalutara had been found with aflatoxins exceeding the limit, Mr Kularathna said.
Mr Kularathna admitted deficiencies in polythene packaging of some products, lack of suitable storage at distribution sites such as the Medical Officer of Health offices, (“go to MOH offices in your areas and see for yourselves’’), and the need for modern silos at the factory. There are no silos, he said. There are also minor defects in the “system’’.
As for the virus, he said, there were factors beyond his control, noting that he is not a ‘divine architect’, or ‘Wishma Karma’. (“Mata nemey, ‘wisma karmayatawath’ karanda beri deywal thiyenne.”
The national auditor has previously cited operating inefficiencies at the factory, including lower production. Also, for 2019, “the procurement plan and procurement time schedule had not been prepared properly,’’ the auditor has noted.
Mr Kularathna said 1.6 million packets are produced every month amid corn sourcing (importing and domestic supply) constraints.
He briefed the media after the Public Health Inspectors union raised the alarm about some Thriposha samples contaminated with aflatoxins. They had done tests on August 20 and got a report on August 24. The union said it had notified on August 27, and distribution was stopped on September 6. The recall covers four districts. A stock of 150 packs has not been distributed.
Mr Kularathna said near-expiry date Thriposha from Colombo, as well as Gampaha, Puttalam, and Kegalle districts had been collected. From Colombo Municipal Council, 245 of 451 ‘master bags’ were collected; from Kegalle 202 of 239 had been rejected, and 99 of 250 from Puttalam.
Nutrition is a birthright of every child. In 2014, Sri Lanka endorsed the Rome Declaration on Nutrition, which, among many other factors, recognised that, “malnutrition is often aggravated by poor infant and young child feeding and care practices … foodborne infections and parasitic infestations, ingestion of harmful levels of contaminants due to unsafe food from production to consumption’’.
Aflatoxins exceeding permitted levels had been detected in some samples tested at Health Sciences Institute in Nagoda, Kalutara, and the PHI union head Mr Upul Rohana went public. The union had felt the need to alert people considering that the fungus puts the lives of mothers, the unborn, and children under five years old at grave risk.
To be safe for mothers, the aflatoxin contamination level should not exceed 30 parts per billion, the PHI union has said, having at first fumbled on the parameters adopted in Sri Lanka.
The union said the Kalutara institute had informed relevant authorities before the PHIs decided to notify Sri Lankans.
The Health Minister, Mr Keheliya Rambukwella told Parliament that there was no danger overall and that Mr Rohana was sent notice of an inquiry.
Mr Kularathna could not name the toxin accurately during his long, rambling briefing, repeatedly referring to it as “apalatoxins’’ from the opening lines.
Mr Rambukwella had also tripped up saying the word.
Referring to the fungus, Mr Kularathna mentioned a small black dot at the back of the grain of corn, “podi kalu paata, podi dot ekak’’. He said the ‘dot’ causes the ‘apalatoxin’ level. (“Mey dot ekath ekka thamai mey virus eka, bada iringuwala apalatoxin mattama enney.’’
Mr Rambukwella also mentioned a black “dot’’.
The Sunday Times contacted Mr Kularathna immediately after the PHI revelations and he agreed to offer more clarity, but he then ignored emails and repeated calls to his mobile phone.
In his briefing, he steered clear of disclosing aflatoxin data related to the products tested, could not say the volume sent to Kalutara, the batches, production dates, and instead offered lengthy process explanations. Nor did he say where the corn had been imported from, or whether sourced from Sri Lankan farmers. He did not speak about soya, or powdered milk, the other key ingredients.
Samples from sacks are collected into a bucket, he said.
He did not provide any insight on how raw materials are stored, or even if they are fumigated. He did, however, assure testing of corn brought in sacks, via third party labs.
The PHI union said it tested some samples and the Family Health Bureau had then recalled the relevant Thriposha. It proposed regulation of the production process from suppliers to output and pre-distribution testing.
It expressed “deep disappointment’’ about remarks made by the Minister of Health, saying he had not established the facts, and instead read notes by an official.
The union said in a briefing it will not be silenced by an inquiry, saying it wholeheartedly supports an inquiry.
PHIs said they had also tested other samples in the market and found them to be problematic, and that led them to test Thriposha as well. It was not clear if this was a reference to similar nutrition products by private companies.
Aflatoxins are mycotoxins produced by two species of Aspergillus, a fungus. These are known to be genotoxic and carcinogenic, according to literature from the European Food Safety Agency.
Several types of aflatoxins are produced naturally, the EFSA says. Aflatoxin B1 is most common in food and among the most potent genotoxic and carcinogenic aflatoxins. It is produced both by Aspergillus flavus and Aspergillus parasiticus. Aflatoxin M1 is a major metabolite of aflatoxin B1 in humans and animals, which may be present in milk from animals fed with aflatoxin B1 contaminated feed.
The molecular formula for B1 is C17 H12 O6.
For corn, “to be subjected to sorting or other physical treatment
before human consumption or use as an ingredient in foodstuffs,’’ the European Commission has set a maximum level of 10 µg/kg for the sum of B1, B2, G1 and G2 aflatoxins. The symbol µg refers to a microgram (a millionth of a gram), or one thousandth of a milligram. These can also be expressed as parts per million, or parts per billion.
Aflatoxin B1 is absorbed in the small intestine and distributed to the liver. B1, G1 and M1 are cancer-causing when delivered orally through the diet, European studies have found.
Aflatoxins can be present in foods such as groundnuts, tree nuts, corn, rice, figs and even spices, crude vegetable oils and cocoa beans due to fungal infection before and after harvest, studies show.
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