Assessment of Food Safety Considering Food Misuse and Low-Quality Products: Study of the Quality of Tomato Paste Products Available in the Kabul Market

Abstract

Abstract
Food and nutrition insecurity in Afghanistan is one of the key crises that has challenged
the lives of many Afghans, resulting in insufficient food, limited access to food, low-quality
processed food products, food misuse, and food supply instability (1). The purpose of this
research is to assess the food safety condition to understand the value and importance of
food safety in the society in an effort to study food misuse by consumers and the lack of
quality processed products. In this study, tomato paste, which is one of the most consumed
products in Afghanistan and largely imported from overseas markets, has been selected. The
study delves deeper into investigating the factors influencing consumers’ choice of tomato
paste and the quality of the tomato paste products. In this study through descriptive, crosssectional method 384 individuals responsible for purchasing food items for their households
were selected from across the Kabul city using the convenience sampling method. the data
was analyzed using version 20 of the SPSS, a statistical analysis software. In ascertaining the
quality of tomato paste products, the purposive sampling method among tomato paste brands
available in the Kabul market was used. The analysis of these samples was conducted in the
Middle East Testing Services (METS) L.L.C. laboratory. The results of the study of tomato
paste quality show that the majority of products available in the country markets are of low
quality and are contrary to the accepted and expected standards. This issue leads to the loss
of one of the most important pillars of food safety and security in the country.