Chemical and physical hazard profile of 'Robo' processing - a street-vended melon snack

A study was carried out on the processing of a locally produced 'robo' from melon seeds in the Abeokuta metropolis in order to identify potential hazards and critical control points associated with its production and the measures to be adopted for the control of associated hazards. Samples collected along processing lines were subjected to physical and chemical hazard analysis. The results of the analysis showed that the samples were contaminated with the following hazards: mineral matter, tramp metal, extraneous vegetable material and matter of animal origin, as well as lead, cadmium, arsenic and tin (0.33 +/- 03, 1.36 +/- 0.02, 0.34 +/- 0.00 and 1.24 +/- 0.03 mg kg(-1), respectively) which were still higher than the acceptable limits (0.1 mg kg(-1)).