Globalized Food Chains, Localized Risk: A Dietary Exposure and Hazard Quotient Assessment of Residua l Cyanogenic Glycosides in Imported Cassava

Cassava (Manihot esculenta) is a staple for approximately 800 million people worldwide, and its principal cyanogenic glycoside, linamarin, represents a geographically uneven food-safety risk. Regulatory limits and surveillance data are based on production-region contexts, leaving limited understanding of dietary exposure among diaspora populations consuming imported cassava products in non-endemic markets, often without inherited knowledge of safe preparation. This study reanalyzes validated indirect competitive ELISA data quantifying linamarin in seventeen fresh and processed cassava-derived products sold in the United Kingdom and sourced from Costa Rica, Cameroon, Ghana, India, Thailand, China, and Jamaica. Concentrations were converted to cyanide equivalents to estimate daily intake, hazard quotients, and margins of exposure for child and adult consumer subgroups using the European Food Safety Authority acute reference dose of 20 μg cyanide/kg body weight.
A serving-size sensitivity analysis and margin-of-exposure reframing extended the original point-estimate assessment. Fresh and minimally processed products, particularly fresh root (hazard quotient 1.57 in children) and leaves (1.12), exceeded the reference dose under single-serving exposure, whereas fully processed dry products — flours, tapioca, chips, and garri — remained more than two orders of magnitude below it. Cassava cortex and peel, initially below the acute threshold at 100g, exceeded it at realistic serving sizes of 185–208g. Overall, processing degree, rather than geographic origin, was the principal determinant of residual risk. Children consuming fresh or minimally processed cassava parts represent the primary population of concern in non-endemic markets. Targeted labelling, import monitoring, and margin-of-exposure assessment could strengthen risk management across diaspora food supply chains.

linamarin; cyanogenic glycosides; dietary exposure assessment; hazard quotient; margin of exposure; diaspora food safety

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