The Quality of Locally-manufactured Cornmill Grinding Plates

Corn mill

A KNUST research has revealed people who consume corn-related foods risk contracting all kinds of cancers

According to the research, the locally manufactured machine used to grind the corn into dough food wears off faster into the dry maize, thus contaminating it.

A study by two lead researchers at the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST) has revealed that consumers of corn-related foods risk contracting all kinds of cancers.

The research was undertaken by Prof. Kwofie, who is the Dean of the Faculty of Mechanical and Chemical Engineering (former) of the College of Engineering, and Dr. Anthony Andrews (now Professor), the Head of Department (former) for Materials Engineering.

The study found that the metals used for the milling plates usually wear off when the food products are being grinded.

This, the study said, opens consumers to the risk of contracting cancer, since the metals contain 'iron overloads' which are poisonous.

Locally-manufactured corn mill plates

The researchers also warned that people who consume ‘ewor kple’ stand a greater risk of tempering with their health compared to eaters of banku because the metal wears off faster into the dry maize processed by the milling plates manufactured mainly by local artisans from Suame Magazine in Kumasi or Kokompe in Accra.

The study by the two researchers was done in two folds and published in 2003 and 2011 respectively in the KNUST journal.

In the first publication, the study compared the local milling plates with that of foreign ones, and found out that the local ones wore off 10 times more than the foreign ones.

It further disclosed that although the local artisans had the skill to produce the plates, they lacked the scientific knowledge and method of processing it.

In an interview with the Mirror, lead researcher, Prof. Samuel Kwofie, said it is the poisonous metal, called 'iron overloads', in the milling plates that leads to all kinds of cancers.

He warned that if these 'iron overloads' are not expelled from the body, it could cause damage to the human system.

From a technical or metallurgical standpoint, the corn mill plates are made of low quality cast iron which have  low hardness and wear resistance.

When these plates move together to grind the corn, they end up wearing off at a faster rate than expected causing the iron overloads to mix with the food.

Click CORN MILL FINDING to access the full report. The report also discusses how to solve this potentially lethal problem.

Credit: YEN.COM.GH

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