Assessment of Ocular Morbidity Associated With Indigenous Gastronomic Processing Methods Somewhere in Rivers State, Nigeria

Abstract

Processing of cassava into various products comes with a lot of environmental as well as occupational health hazards to the environment, consumers and especially the processors. Hence, the objective of this paper is to investigate the ocular morbidity associated with indigenous gastronomic processing methods of garri in Ogbogoro, Obio Akpor local government area, Rivers State. One hundred (100) subjects within the age range of 15–69. Results showed that the common range of ocular hazards include lid burns from smoke (14%), eye itching (12%), corneal foreign bodies (12%), blurred vision (11%), eye dryness (10%), pinguecula (8%), pterygium (6%), and allergic conjunctivitis (6%), and other issues such as cataracts (3%) and corneal ulcers (2%). In terms of garri processing stages, frying appeared to pose the greatest risk, accounting for 26% of ocular hazards, followed by sieving (22%), compressing (16%), milling (13%), and harvesting (6%). In conclusion, this research underscores the importance of addressing occupational safety in traditional food processing practices, particularly within the context of ocular health.