Dietary Practices of Health Professionals during Working Hours in a Tertiary Referral Teaching Hospital In Ghana: A Neglected Vulnerable Group

Aim: Generally, it is assumed that health professionals are knowledgeable about healthy eating and as such studies aimed at assessing their dietary practices and the factors that influence these practices have been largely neglected. These studies are important because the dietary habits of healthcare professionals (HCPs) can have an impact on their well-being, health status and even their work output. Largely, there is a dearth of information about the dietary practices of HCPs during working hours. This study was aimed at assessing the dietary practices of HCPs during working hours at a referral teaching hospital in Ghana. Study Design: This was a cross-sectional study in which a questionnaire was administered to 320 HCPs. Methodology: A questionnaire was administered to the HCPs in the hospital after obtaining informed consent (written) from the HCPs. The questionnaire solicited information about their socio-demographics, dietary practices and nutritional knowledge. Descriptive statistics were summarized as frequencies and proportions. Results: Approximately 13.1%, 47.5% and 39.4% were underweight, normal weight and overweight respectively. Carbonated beverages, baked foods and fried foods were consumed four (4) or more times in a week by more than half of the HCPs because they were regarded as convenience foods which could be eaten while working. About 76.9%, 52.8% and 58.4% skipped their breakfast, lunch and supper meal respectively at least once in the past one (1) week before the study. Conclusions: The findings reveal concerns about the unhealthy dietary habits and basic nutrition knowledge gaps among the surveyed HCPs. Most HCPs skipped breakfast and ate a lot of unhealthy foods such as carbonated beverages, baked foods and fried foods frequently during working hours. Recommendations made include the need for hospital management to provide canteens that serve healthy meals for HCPs at their job sites. There is also the need for management to organize the work-schedules of HCPs in order to manage their workloads in a manner that enables them have adequate breaktimes to access and eat healthy foods while at work.

L-asparaginase: therapeutic use and applications in the food industry – a review

L-asparaginase (L-asnase) is an amino hydrolase that has been used in the last decades for leukemia treatment, which boosted scientific studies on production, purification and immobilization of this enzyme. More recently, L-asnase has called food industry attention because of its effect on acrylamide formation in fried and baked foods. Several studies have been carried out in order to evaluate the effect of L-asnase in reducing acrylamide formation in different food models. This review brings up an overview in L-asnase kinetic parameters from different sources, immobilization methods, its therapeutic use in leukemia treatment and food processing applications. This review also discusses acrylamide formation in fried and baked foods. Commercial L-asnase is produced by two microorganisms, Escherichia coli and Erwinia sp. However, studies using different microorganisms have shown the possibility of producing this enzyme from different sources, obtaining enzymes with interesting kinetic properties. Immobilization strategies have provided enzymes with greater activity and stability, which could contribute to maintain L-asnase activity in the body for longer periods. Researches applying L-asnase in food products have shown significant reduction in acrylamide production, above 90% in some cases. For this purpose, during enzyme application some variables must be taken into account, as enzyme dose, food matrix, pretreatment, processing time and temperature. Medical and food applications make L-asnase a multipurpose enzyme. Reducing prices, improving enzyme stability and reducing co-lateral effects in leukemia treatment are still challenges to overcome.

Eugenol as a potential drug candidate: A review

: Eugenol is a bioactive compound widely available in many herbs like clove, cinnamon, tulsi, pepper etc. The compound is known for its antioxidant, antimicrobial, anaesthetic, anti-inflammatory, neuroprotective, anti-diabetic, and anti-cancer activities. In pharmaceutical analysis, eugenol is used as a marker for single drugs and drug products. Dental care, household, and personal hygiene products are other areas where it has established its potential. In the food industry, eugenol is used as a flavouring agent in non-alcoholic beverages, baked foods, and chewing gums. Considering the huge potential of eugenol, this review is an attempt to collate the regulatory information, physico-chemical properties, toxicity profile, marketed conventional and novel formulations, analytical methods, extraction procedures, recent patents and clinical trials of the moiety. Based on the literature survey, a schematic diagram of the mechanism of action has also been made.

Baked Tolerance in Cow’s Milk Allergy: Quite Frequent, Hard to Predict!

<b><i>Introduction:</i></b> Cow’s milk protein allergy (CMA) is the most common type of food allergy in childhood and exclusion diet is a challenge for patients. <b><i>Objective:</i></b> The study aim was to investigate the frequency of tolerance to baked foods containing milk and evaluate immediate skin prick test (SPT) and specific IgEs for different cow’s milk (CM) protein types as predictors of tolerance to baked foods containing milk for CMA patients. <b><i>Methods:</i></b> A cross-sectional study was performed. Fifty-four CMA patients were enrolled and oral food challenge (OFC) was performed with baked product, 6 different milk SPTs and specific IgEs to CM, casein, α-lactalbumin, and β-lactoglobulin. <b><i>Results:</i></b> Thirty-nine (72.2%) patients tolerated OFC with baked milk cupcake. CM-specific IgE and casein SPT showed statistical difference between positive and negative OFC groups. Probability curves for baked milk tolerance were created for specific CM IgE (<i>Z</i> = 2.542, <i>p</i> &#x3c; 0.0110) and casein SPT (<i>Z</i> = 2.290, <i>p</i> &#x3c; 0.0220) using logistic regression. <b><i>Conclusions:</i></b> The high percentage of patients able to tolerate baked goods enables an improvement in intake possibilities and quality of life of CMA patients and families. Specific CM IgE and casein SPT demonstrated to be useful predictors in relation to baked milk tolerance.

Processing technology of tea bakery foods – a Review

Tea foods, especially tea bakery foods, play an important role in bridging the gap between supply and demand of tea industry. This paper reviews the processing technology of tea bakery foods which include tea breads, tea cakes, and tea biscuits during the past thirty years. It also points to the fact that there are no uniform quality evaluation methods for tea bakery foods. Effect of the chemical composition of tea on the quality of bakery food is discussed. According to differences in texture, chemical composition, and biological activity of functional components, different ingredients and their ratios should be adjusted to obtain high-quality tea bakery foods. To effectively preserve the special tea flavour, biological activities of tea components should be retained as much as possible. Tea baked foods were mainly evaluated through senses. There were many differences in the sensory evaluation indices, evaluation criteria, and the scores by different experts. Further, this paper provides a critical outlook of the developments needed in processing technology and quality improvement of tea bakery foods.

Effect of Sweet Corn Residue on Micronutrient Fortification in Baked Cakes

Owing to the concept of modern life and health, traditional baked foods are seeking transition. In this study, sweet corn residue (SCR) was used to replace wheat flour in cakes. We conducted sensory evaluation and texture analysis to assess sample quality. Also, we simulated digestion in vitro, and determined the content of total sugar and dietary fiber. The content of vitamin E and carotenoids were determined by High Performance Liquid Chromatography (HPLC), and the content of folate was determined by a microbiological method. With the increase of SCR, the content of dietary fiber, folate, vitamin E, and carotenoids significantly increased, and the digestive characteristics improved simultaneously. Based on the above evaluations, SCRC2 (sweet corn residue cake with 60% substitution) had similar sensory quality to the control (pure wheat flour cake) and had the characteristics of slow digestibility and high micronutrients.