Assessment of Various Hazards Found In Halewet El-Moulid And Cream Cake Handled In The Local Egyptian Market.

The current work was performed to investigate the safety of Halewet El-Moulid and cream cake handled in the local Egyptian market. Four kinds of Halewet El-Moulid samples were collected from 5 governorates. The potential chemical and microbiological hazards of collected samples were assessed. The obtained results reveal that all Halewet El-Moulid samples did not contain aflatoxins; however, their lead and copper content were varied between 0.02 - 0.71 and 0.62 - 3.8 ppm, respectively. Moreover, 50% of the extracted oil from samples containing oily seeds had peroxide values greater than the maximum acceptable limit. In spite of salmonella and fungal counts, all other measured microbiological cream cake sample hazards were unacceptable. These results indicate the necessity of imposing safety programs during processing, storage, and retail of food products. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]