The prevalence of Borax contamination in food in Nakhon Ratchasima's municipality raw food markets.

Abstract

The purpose of this survey research was to determine the prevalence of Borax contamination in food samples. The type of food samples consists of meatballs, Vietnamese pork sausage, pork mince, Tub Tim Krob (Sweet water chestnuts), and pickled mustard cabbage from eleven Nakhon Ratchasima's municipality raw food markets. One-hundred and three samples were taken by simple random sampling. Food samples were analyzed using the Borax test kit of the Department of Medical Sciences. Descriptive statistics, such as number and percentage, were used to analyze the data. The results showed that out of 103 food samples, 10 were contaminated with Borax, representing 9.7%. Tub Tim Krob had a contamination rate of 33.3% of the foodstuffs tested followed by pork meatballs at 15.4%, pickled mustard cabbage at 12.5%, Vietnamese pork sausage at 11.1%, and pork mince at 3.9%. The market that found the most borax contamination in food was Suebsiri road market. 100.0% contaminated, followed by Save One market 66.7%, Pratoo Phee market 33.3%, Sib-rai market 5.6% and IT plaza market 4.8%. Other markets did not found Borax contamination. The results indicated that Borax was present in the food samples. Therefore, relevant agencies continuous monitoring of Borax contamination should be undertaken, including public relations by educating food vendors and consumers on a regular basis.