Thyme herbs constitute a major part of the Mediterranean diet and are gaining worldwide popularity. However, their chemical contamination with toxic metals may put consumers at a health risk. Thus, the aim of this study was to assess the incidence of Arsenic (As), Cadmium (Cd), Lead (Pb) and Mercury (Hg) in thyme herbs and thyme-containing products. For this, 180 samples pooled into 36 composite samples of the most consumed types of thyme-containing products and thyme herbs were collected twice at three-month intervals. Samples were analyzed by Inductively Coupled Plasma Mass Spectrometry (ICP-MS) ...

Thyme intake assessment is gaining significance because thyme is becoming a global staple food and its use has been on the rise. Limited research has been done on the assessment of dietary patterns on thyme and thyme products in Lebanon. The aim of this study was conducted for this purpose, a developed FFQ was carried on a convenient sample of 1555 adult participants. Out of the total, 1523 persons (97.9%) consumed at least one thyme product. The mean consumption of thyme products was estimated to be 425.5 g/day, providing an estimated 31.4 g/day of thyme. Thyme pie had the highest mean intake ...