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| Cassava-based chips and crackers
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Advisory
NSW Health and the NSW Food Authority recommend all consumers, especially children, restrict their consumption of vegetable chips and crackers made with cassava to less than 100 grams a day.
Cassava
Cassava is a hardy plant grown in many tropical countries.
It’s eaten in a variety of ways ranging from flour to vegetable dishes. Tapioca pearls, which come from cassava, are used in desserts.
Cassava is also available in Australia as an ingredient in some vegetable chips and crackers.
Natural cyanide
Cassava contains a naturally occurring compound called cyanogenic glycoside.
Cyanogenic glycoside can trigger cyanide to be made in the gut.
This can be a health risk, especially for children.
Symptoms of a mild reaction occur very shortly after eating and can include anxiety, dizziness, nausea, rapid pulse, vomiting and weakness.
The body is usually able to clear any cyanide produced in the gut completely in three days.
In Australia the risk of getting sick is relatively low.
If unwell after eating cassava in any form, see a doctor.
Safety
Not all foods using cassava contain the compound cyanogenic glycoside.
It is only present when the food has been incorrectly prepared.
Products of greatest concern to the NSW Food Authority are cassava-based vegetable chips and crackers made from imported, dried cassava pellets.
It’s recommended that no more than 100 grams of cassava-based chips and crackers are eaten a day.
Test results
NSW Food Authority tests conducted in January 2008 show most cassava chips and crackers could produce higher than expected levels of cyanide.
The Authority tested 274 samples of cassava chips and crackers.
It found levels of cyanide, produced from cyanogenic glycosides, ranging from less than 10mg per kilogram up to 145mg per kilogram.
Most products tested - 77 per cent - exceeded the maximum level of 25mg per kilogram of cyanide.
This maximum level was recommended in a risk assessment recently completed by Food Standards Australia New Zealand, FSANZ, at the request of the NSW Food Authority.
The laboratory testing and FSANZ risk assessment was initiated following the voluntary product recall of a brand of vegetable crackers on January 12.
Action
The NSW Food Authority informed manufactures of test results and the risk assessment findings.
It also urged Food Standards Australia New Zealand to urgently consider appropriate standards for these products.
NSW Health advised that consumers, especially children, not to eat more than 100 grams of cassava-based chips and crackers a day.
Overall
Be cautious when preparing or consuming cassava.
Eat no more than 100gms of cassava-based chips and crackers a day.
Children are most susceptible to getting sick from eating too much cassava that contains cyanogenic glycoside, a naturally occurring cyanide.
The NSW Food Authority is a government organisation that helps ensure food is safe and correctly labelled. For more information call the Food Authority on 1300 552 406.
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