# Nutritional Quality and Safety Characteristics of Imported Biscuits Markered in Basrah, Iraq
## 3 Results and Discussion  
### Nutritional Composition  
Table 1 reports the nutritional composition of different types of biscuits collected in the local markets of Basrah, Iraq. Three categories were considered: cookies, crackers, and digestive biscuits. Crackers, also named \"water biscuits\", are savory or salty biscuits, whereas the term \"cookie\" is used for the sweet ones and \"digestive\" for semisweet biscuits. The moisture content varied from 1.42 g/100/g to 2.52 g/100 g, without a significant effect by the variables \"Biscuit type\" and \"Country\" or by their first-order interaction. The range observed, due to differences in formulation, processing, and packaging conditions, agreed with [PERSON] et al. [30], who reported that the moisture content of biscuits varies from 1 to 5 g/100 g. All samples showed a moisture content lower than the allowed maximum limit (4.5 g/100 g) established by the World Health Organization (WHO) and the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) [31]. The ash content ranged from 0.48 g/100 g to 3.19 g/100 g and was significantly influenced by the variables \"Biscuit type\" (\(p<\) 0.001) and \"Country\" (\(p<\) 0.01). The effect of the \"Biscuit type\"Country\" interaction, instead, was not significant. The highest ash contents were observed in the cracker category, and in Turkish samples. Ash content can be affected by the number of preservatives and leveling agents added [32]. In addition, high levels of ash are generally associated with the addition of bran [33]. The content of ash found in all biscuit samples was lower than the limit of 3.5 g/100 g established by the FAO/WHO [31]. Although not perceived as fatty foods by consumers, biscuits usually contain relevant amounts of fats. However, contrarily to the current trend established in Western countries, where research efforts are made to lower the fat content of biscuits and improve their quality [34; 35; 36], in developing countries the perception of fat is not negative because children's malnutrition still exists, and hi-energy food products are required. Therefore, the FAO/WHO, within the World Food Program (WFP), sets a minimum limit for the fat content of biscuits, accounting for 15 g/100 g [31]. This limit was met by the majority of the examined biscuits, with only five samples much below 15 g/100 g, having fat contents in the range 6.83-11.81 g/100 g. Four of these samples were Turkish and one was Iranian. [PERSON] et al. [37], instead, found fat content values lower than 15 g/100 g in nine out of twelve biscuits representative of four Polish confectionery producers, as a consequence of the request for decreasing fat content of food generally expressed by the European consumers. The fat content of the examined biscuits varied in a broad range, from 6.52 g/100 g to 26.86 g/100 g, and was significantly affected by the variables \"Biscuit type\" (\(p<\) 0.001) and \"Country\" (\(p<\) 0.05), but was not significantly influenced by their first-order interaction. The highest fat contents were observed in cookies, and in Spanish samples. Fats have an important lubricating function in biscuit-making and positively influence the sensory features of the final product. The higher fat content observed in cookies, compared to the other two categories considered, namely crackers and digestives, was due to their different preparation procedure.