Aim: The aim of this study is to investigate the effects of food insecurity derived from non-cereal food consumption on nutritional status of children and mothers in a poverty-prone region in Bangladesh. Methods: Data from the Bangladesh Nutritional Surveillance Project, 2005 of Helen Keller International were used to relate non-cereal food consumption and household food insecurity to nutritional status of children and their mothers. Multiple regressions were used to determine the association between the nutritional outcomes and the explanatory variables. In the case of binary and multi-level outcomes, logistic regressions were used as well. Results: Non-cereal dietary diversity was found to have little predictive power on BMI and MUAC of mothers and on the nutritional status of the children. Maternal education is strongly associated with mothers’ and children’s nutritional status. Conclusion: Dietary diversity based on non-cereal food consumption can be a useful tool to investigate the nutritional status of poor households, but more studies are needed to verify these findings.

Objective: The aim of this study was to determine the contents of caffeine and total polyphenol in six brands of market tea cultivated and processed in Bangladesh. Methods: Caffeine and polyphenol contents were determined by solvent extraction (AACC) and the International Organisation for Standardisation Method (ISO) 14502-1 respectively. Results: Caffeine contents of the different tea samples ranged between 0.99 ± 0.17% to 2.08 ± 0.16% (g/100g materials), while that of total polyphenol was from 36.90 ± 1.39% to 17.29 ± 2.30% of gallic acid equivalents (GAE). The order of caffeine concentration in tea samples was found as follows: Organic Black Tea > Taaza Tea > Organic Green Tea > Magnolia Tea > Organic Zinger Tea > Organic Tulsi Tea. The polyphenol concentration in the tea samples was highest in Organic Green Tea followed by Taaza Tea and the rest as follows: Magnolia Tea > Organic Black Tea > Organic Zinger Tea > Organic Tulsi Tea. An indicative difference in amounts of caffeine and polyphenols for different tea brand samples is seen in this study. Conclusion: This systematic screening provides information to producers as well as consumers on the quantities of caffeine and polyphenols in commercial tea available in the markets of Bangladesh.

This study aimed to find out that a cup of tea is or is not safe for human health from microbial contamination and to point out the antimicrobial property of made tea liquor. Different made tea brands were collected randomly from different super shop of Dhaka city. The Association of Official Agricultural Chemists (AOAC), 2005 was used as official methods of analysis. The Standard Plate Count (SPC) technique was used for total microbial load, yeast and fungal count. Most Probable Number (MPN) technique was used for the enumeration of coliform in tea samples. Bacteria, yeast, mould and coliform were observed before and after boiling in all studied the samples. Before boiling, total microbial load and coliform were found at significantly higher of its’ acceptable limit (p<0.05) whereas yeast and fungus were found of its’ acceptable limit (p>0.05). After boiling, only coliform was observed significantly higher in all except Tetley tea at its’ non-acceptable limit (p<0.05). Fecal coliform was not present at every stage of this study. Made tea liquor has shown to have antimicrobial property. Boiling in tea preparation and its’ liquor antimicrobial property considerably reduced the level of microbial load to safe level for public consumption.