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Influence of Geographical Origin and Processing Methods on Biopreservatives, Heavy Metals, Lipid Quality Indices, and Aflatoxin M1 in Imported Cheeses: A Public Health Concern

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Overview

Falih and colleagues analyzed 27 imported cheese samples (soft, semi-hard, hard types from three countries) purchased in Babylon Governorate, Iraq, for cadmium, lead, copper, arsenic, and other quality markers by ICP-OES. One Saudi soft cheese sample exceeded the EU/Codex cadmium limit for cheese (0.05 mg/kg). Several hard cheese samples from Iran had detectable lead. Copper was elevated in some samples. Aflatoxin M1 was also measured but is outside scope here.

Key numbers

Values are mg/kg wet weight from Figure 4 (heatmap) and Table 4 of the source:

  • Cadmium range across all 27 samples: below detection limit to 0.09 mg/kg; Saudi soft (CHH3-S) 0.09 mg/kg exceeded Codex 0.05 mg/kg limit
  • Lead range: 0.00 to approximately 0.869 mg/kg; highest in Iranian hard cheese (CHH3-I approximately 0.869 mg/kg); selected positive samples from Table 4: CHH2-I 0.04, CHH3-I 0.07, CHH2-I 0.07, CHH1-I 0.08, CHH1-S 0.03, CHH3-S 0.03, CHH3-T 0.03 mg/kg
  • Copper range: 0.196 to 2.13 mg/kg; highest in Turkish semi-hard (CHS3-T 2.13 mg/kg)
  • Arsenic: soft samples generally 0.0053 to 0.020 mg/kg; not separately tabulated in the source text

Comparators used by authors: EU Commission Regulation 2006/1881/EC and Codex Alimentarius limits for cadmium in cheese (0.05 mg/kg).

Methods (brief)

ICP-OES (Thermo Scientific iCAP PRO X); 1 g cheese plus 4 mL 65% HNO3 plus 1 mL 30% H2O2 microwave digested. Analyzed in triplicate. LOD/LOQ not explicitly stated in main text.

Evidence fitness

This is a convenience sample of imported cheeses in one Iraqi city; it is not a national survey. The variety of origin countries (Iran, Saudi Arabia, Turkey) reflects the import market composition in Babylon Governorate, not a systematic sampling of any single supply chain. Some lead values are very high (up to 0.869 mg/kg in hard cheese) and may reflect localized contamination or processing; this is higher than values reported by most other recent surveys. Useful for characterizing cheese metal levels relative to cream measurements from the same general region, but should not be used as typical global or regional values.

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