Pesticide Residues and Unauthorized Dyes as Adulteration Markers in Chilli Pepper and Tomato

Edward Ken Essuman; Ernest Teye; Rosemond Godbless Dadzie; Livingstone K Sam-Amoah

doi:10.1155/2023/5337150

Pesticide Residues and Unauthorized Dyes as Adulteration Markers in Chilli Pepper and Tomato

Int J Food Sci. 2023 Jan 13:2023:5337150. doi: 10.1155/2023/5337150. eCollection 2023.

Authors

Edward Ken Essuman^{1

2

3}, Ernest Teye^{1

3}, Rosemond Godbless Dadzie¹, Livingstone K Sam-Amoah¹

Affiliations

¹ University of Cape Coast, College of Agriculture and Natural Sciences, School of Agriculture, Department of Agricultural Engineering, Cape Coast, Ghana.
² University of Health and Allied Sciences, School of Allied Health Sciences, Department of Nutrition and Dietetics, Ho, Ghana.
³ University of Cape Coast, Africa Centre of Excellence for Food Fraud and Safety, Cape Coast, Ghana.

Abstract

To assess the contamination of processed chilli pepper and tomatoes, a report over the past four decades since the establishment of the Rapid Alert System for Food and Feed (RASFF) was retrieved and analysed. Out of the 887 notification reports assessed for eligibility, 446 were found regarding chilli pepper and tomato contamination. This study identified India as the country of origin with the highest number of reported cases relating to chilli pepper contamination. Italy and Türkiye were the countries with the highest number of reported cases regarding the exportation of adulterated tomatoes to other countries according to the RASFF report. Unauthorized dyes such as Sudan I, III, IV, orange II, rhodamine B, and para red were reported to have been detected in either chilli pepper or tomato in the supply chain. Almost all unauthorized dyes in this study were found to be more than the range (0.5 to 1 mg/kg) of the detection limit of Sudan dye and other related dyes using analytical methods set by the European Union. Unapproved pesticides by the European Union (EU) found in this study were acetamiprid, chlorothalonil, chlorpyrifos, dimethoate, methomyl, monocrotophos, omethoate, oxamyl, and thiophanate methyl. The present study indicates the persistence of chilli pepper and tomato contamination with harmful dyes and pesticide residues despite the ban on the use of certain chemicals in the food chain.