Gluten-Free Corn Cookies Incorporated With Stinging Nettle Leaf Flour: Effect on Physical Properties, Storage Stability, and Health Benefits.

The consumption of gluten-free corn cookies is becoming very popular among nonceliac and celiac individuals. However, the absence of gluten and other nutrients in corn generally leads to cookies of lower quality in terms of nutritional value, texture, colour, and shelf life. To improve the quality characteristics of corn cookies, this study investigated the effect of incorporating an underutilised herb (Urtica dioica L. leaves) on its nutritional and physical properties. Stinging nettle leaf flour was incorporated at different levels (5%, 10%, 15%, and 20%) and compared with a control (100% corn cookies). The storage stability of the formulated corn cookies was also investigated at room and frozen (-18 ± 2°C) temperature. The incorporation of stinging nettle leaf flour increased (p < 0.05) the ash and protein content of corn cookies from 0.32% (control) to 2.56% (20% stinging nettle leaf flour incorporation) and 6.44% (control) to 21.52% (20% stinging nettle leaf flour incorporation), respectively. After in vitro starch digestion, the total phenolic content (TPC) and antioxidant activity (AA) also increased approximately 27 and seven times, respectively, and the estimated glycaemic index (GI) (eGI) decreased (p < 0.05) from 48.60% (control) to 33.18% (20% stinging nettle incorporated). Shelf life characteristics (water activity, peroxide value (PV), and microbial count) of formulated corn cookies were within acceptable limits for human consumption upon storage for 6 months. The findings indicated that stinging nettle leaves could serve as a potential food ingredient in gluten-free bakery products, particularly where low GI foods are desirable.

Survival of Escherichia coli in Edible Land Snails: Implications for Heliciculture and Public Health.

BACKGROUND: Land snails are considered a delicacy in many countries in Europe and sub-Saharan Africa. However, the interaction of microbial pathogens with land snails may present a public health threat when handling and/or consuming snails. This study examines the survival of Escherichia coli in edible land snails in a model system. METHODS: Well-studied Shigatoxigenic (STEC) and non-STEC strains were compared. Mature Helix spp. were experimentally fed with E. coli-inoculated oats for 48 h. The snail feces after inoculation were periodically sampled and cultured for a 30-day period and subjected to microbiological analyses. RESULTS: The average rate of decline of the non-STEC strain CSH-62 in the feces of live snails was significantly (p < 0.05) faster than that of STEC ERL 06-2503. In addition, the viable population of E. coli ERL 06-2503 significantly (p < 0.05) persisted for a longer time in the intestine of land snails than E. coli CSH-62. CONCLUSION: The results showed that the viable population of the E. coli strains examined demonstrated first-order kinetics, and their survival (CFU/mL) appeared significantly (p < 0.05) dependent on the E. coli pathotype. In addition, the continuous enumeration of E. coli in snail faeces indicated that land snails could serve as a mode of transmission of microbial pathogens to susceptible hosts, including humans. Further research is recommended to better quantify the direct and indirect health risks of pathogen transmission by edible snails to humans.

Snail meat consumption in Buea-Cameroon: exposures to foodborne pathogens through social practices assessed in 2019 and 2021.

BACKGROUND: Snail meat is an important source of nutrition in Cameroon, but the food safety risks are poorly understood. We characterized public health risks from snail meat consumption as a social system in Cameroon, by examining local snail practices that expose snail meat handlers and consumers to foodborne pathogens. METHODS: We used exploratory qualitative approaches, that is, lived experience, face-to-face in-depth interviews, participant observation and a focus group, to explore fifteen key informants' routines and lived experiences, and perceptions of two health officials on the food safety practices around snail meat consumption in Cameroon. This information was organized and interpreted using Soft Systems Methodology and Social Practice Theory, which permitted a systemic appreciation of local practices. RESULTS: We distinguished five kinds of actors (snail vendors, market sellers, street vendors, street eaters and home consumers), who performed seven successive practices (picking, selling, cracking, washing, cooking, hawking and eating). We then identified three worldviews about snails: family support or to reduce poverty, a source of nutrition and a food choice (taste, preference). Our findings revealed participants' competences were based on childhood learning and 'inborn' experiences, and materials used in snail activities reflected participants' parentage and 'state of poverty'. Although most interviewees highlighted 'unhygienic conditions' when explaining snail picking locations, participants believed washing and cooking should kill all contaminants. CONCLUSION: Several opportunities for human exposures to foodborne pathogens including snail picking in domestic wastes and sewage, the selling of unpackaged live snails, improper snail meat washing and hawking in loosely closed buckets, were apparent from our analysis. These findings suggest fruitful opportunities aimed at improving health outcomes among African snail meat handlers and consumers.

Public Health Risk of Foodborne Pathogens in Edible African Land Snails, Cameroon.

In tropical countries, land snails are an important food source; however, foodborne disease risks are poorly quantified. We detected Campylobacter spp., Yersinia spp., Listeria spp., Salmonella spp., or Shiga-toxigenic Escherichia coli in 57%-86% of snails in Cameroon. Snail meat is a likely vector for enteric diseases in sub-Saharan Africa countries.