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Fulltext Evaluation of the safety of domestic food preparation in Malaysia

Desmarchelier PM, Apiwathnasorn C, Vilainerun D, Watson C, Johari MR, Ahmad Z, et al.

Bull World Health Organ, 1994;72(6):877-84.
PMID: 7867133

Food-handling practices were studied in 119 and 158 households, respectively, in an urban and a rural community in Peninsular Malaysia. Hazard analyses, including microbiological analysis of foods, were carried out in two households in each community and in a house that prepared food for distribution in the urban area. Kitchen hygiene was generally acceptable, although rated "poor" in some instances in the rural area. Food prepared for lunch was usually sufficient for dinner also, the leftover items being stored at ambient temperature until required. In the house that prepared food for distribution, breakfast was prepared during the evening, stored at ambient temperature overnight, and reheated before sale the next morning. There was a local preference for cooking food at temperatures close to boiling point; this reduced the numbers of vegetative cells but not those of spores. In some stored foods the populations of Staphylococcus aureus, Bacillus cereus and mesophilic aerobic bacteria increased, the last-mentioned reaching spoilage levels. Reheating reduced the populations of proliferating bacteria in most foods to acceptable levels but would not have destroyed heat-resistant enterotoxins. Because of their importance in combating acute bacterial foodborne disease, the control of the temperature and time factors during the cooking and storage of food should receive special attention in education on health and food safety.

Matched MeSH terms: Food Handling/standards*
Sociodemographic characteristics of food handlers and their knowledge, attitude and practice towards food sanitation: a preliminary report

Zain MM, Naing NN

Southeast Asian J. Trop. Med. Public Health, 2002 Jun;33(2):410-7.
PMID: 12236444

Diseases spread through food still remain a common and persistent problems resulting in appreciable morbidity and occasional mortality. Food handlers play an important role in ensuring food safety throughout the chain of production, processing, storage and preparation. This study is to explore the pattern of sociodemographic distribution and to determine knowledge, attitude and practice of food handlers towards food-borne diseases and food safety. A total of 430 food handlers were randomly selected from Kota Bharu district and interviewed by using structured questionnaire. Distribution of food handlers was Malays (98.8%), females (69.5%), married (81.4%), working in food stalls (64.2%), involved in operational areas (49.3%), having no license (54.2%) and immunized with Ty2 (60.7%). The mean age was 41 +/- 12 years and the mean income was RM 465 +/- 243/month. The educational level was found as no formal education (10.5%), primary school (31.9%), secondary school (57.0%) and diploma/degree holders (0.7%). A significant number of food handlers (57.2%) had no certificate in food handlers training program and 61.9% had undergone routine medical examinations (RME). Almost half (48.4%) had poor knowledge. Multiple logistic regression showed type of premise [Odd ratio (OR) = 4.0, 95% Confidence interval (CI) =1.8-7.5, p = 0.0004], educational level (OR = 4.0, 95% CI = 1.8-7.4, p = 0.0003) and job status of food handlers (OR = 0.5, 95% CI = 0.3-0.8, p = 0.0031) significantly influenced the level score of knowledge. No significant difference of attitude and practice between trained and untrained food handlers. Findings of this preliminary study may help in planning health education intervention programs for food handlers in order to have improvement in knowledge, attitude and practice towards food-borne diseases and food safety. Furthermore, it will in turn reduce national morbidity and mortality of food-borne diseases.

Matched MeSH terms: Food Handling/standards*
Knowledge and practices of a control authority: impact on the environment and food safety

Toh PS

Int J Environ Health Res, 2002 Dec;12(4):311-6.
PMID: 12596745 DOI: 10.1080/0960312021000056447

This study investigates the practices and knowledge of a Control Authority dealing with the environment and the safety and control of hawker foods. Experience and background education are used as likely determinants of food safety practices and knowledge of the control authority. A total of 60 questionnaires were distributed to the Health Inspectors (HIs) in the Hawkers' and Health Departments, City Hall, Kuala Lumpur. The return rate was 93%. The structured questionnaire contained 14 main food safety practices and knowledge constructs. Significance was found pertaining to knowledge of HIs with different experience backgrounds but experience was not demonstrated to impact on practices of HIs. However, education was noted to have significantly but inconsistently influenced certain Practices and Knowledge scores of HIs. A Pearson bivariate coefficient characterised an association between food safety practices and knowledge of the control authority. The findings: (1) highlight the actual shortcomings in the staff resources relating to environmental health, food safety, foodborne illnesses and their control, and (2) provide information on the control aspect within the hawker micro-industry with the view of protecting the public from health hazards arising from the hawkers' practices and consumption of hawker foods.

Matched MeSH terms: Food Handling/standards*
Fulltext Development of swine-specific DNA markers for biosensor-based halal authentication

Ali ME, Hashim U, Kashif M, Mustafa S, Che Man YB, Abd Hamid SB

Genet. Mol. Res., 2012;11(2):1762-72.
PMID: 22843053 DOI: 10.4238/2012.June.29.9

The pig (Sus scrofa) mitochondrial genome was targeted to design short (15-30 nucleotides) DNA markers that would be suitable for biosensor-based hybridization detection of target DNA. Short DNA markers are reported to survive harsh conditions in which longer ones are degraded into smaller fragments. The whole swine mitochondrial-genome was in silico digested with AluI restriction enzyme. Among 66 AluI fragments, five were selected as potential markers because of their convenient lengths, high degree of interspecies polymorphism and intraspecies conservatism. These were confirmed by NCBI blast analysis and ClustalW alignment analysis with 11 different meat-providing animal and fish species. Finally, we integrated a tetramethyl rhodamine-labeled 18-nucleotide AluI fragment into a 3-nm diameter citrate-tannate coated gold nanoparticle to develop a swine-specific hybrid nanobioprobe for the determination of pork adulteration in 2.5-h autoclaved pork-beef binary mixtures. This hybrid probe detected as low as 1% pork in deliberately contaminated autoclaved pork-beef binary mixtures and no cross-species detection was recorded, demonstrating the feasibility of this type of probe for biosensor-based detection of pork adulteration of halal and kosher foods.

Matched MeSH terms: Food Handling/standards*
Enterobacteriaceae in dehydrated powdered infant formula manufactured in Indonesia and Malaysia

Estuningsih S, Kress C, Hassan AA, Akineden O, Schneider E, Usleber E

J Food Prot, 2006 Dec;69(12):3013-7.
PMID: 17186672

To determine the occurrence of Salmonella and Shigella in infant formula from Southeast Asia, 74 packages of dehydrated powdered infant follow-on formula (recommended age, > 4 months) from five different manufacturers, four from Indonesia and one from Malaysia, were analyzed. None of the 25-g test portions yielded Salmonella or Shigella. However, further identification of colonies growing on selective media used for Salmonella and Shigella detection revealed the frequent occurrence of several other Enterobacteriaceae species. A total of 35 samples (47%) were positive for Enterobacteriaceae. Ten samples (13.5%) from two Indonesian manufacturers yielded Enterobacter sakazakii. Other Enterobacteriaceae isolated included Pantoea spp. (n = 12), Escherichia hermanii (n = 10), Enterobacter cloacae (n = 8), Klebsiella pneumoniae subsp. pneumoniae (n = 3), Citrobacter spp. (n = 2), Serratia spp. (n = 2), and Escherichia coli (n = 2). To our knowledge, this is the first report to describe the contamination of dehydrated powdered infant formula from Indonesia with E. sakazakii and several other Enterobacteriaceae that could be opportunistic pathogens. Improper preparation and conservation of these products could result in a health risk for infants in Indonesia.

Matched MeSH terms: Food Handling/standards
Current intervention strategies for the microbial safety of sprouts

Sikin AM, Zoellner C, Rizvi SS

J Food Prot, 2013 Dec;76(12):2099-123.
PMID: 24290689 DOI: 10.4315/0362-028X.JFP-12-437

Sprouts have gained popularity worldwide due to their nutritional values and health benefits. The fact that their consumption has been associated with numerous outbreaks of foodborne illness threatens the $250 million market that this industry has established in the United States. Therefore, sprout manufacturers have utilized the U.S. Food and Drug Administration recommended application of 20,000 ppm of calcium hypochlorite solution to seeds before germination as a preventative method. Concentrations of up to 200 ppm of chlorine wash are also commonly used on sprouts. However, chlorine-based treatment achieves on average only 1- to 3-log reductions in bacteria and is associated with negative health and environmental issues. The search for alternative strategies has been widespread, involving chemical, biological, physical, and hurdle processes that can achieve up to 7-log reductions in bacteria in some cases. The compilation here of the current scientific data related to these techniques is used to compare their efficacy for ensuring the microbial safety of sprouts and their practicality for commercial producers. Of specific importance for alternative seed and sprout treatments is maintaining the industry-accepted germination rate of 95% and the sensorial attributes of the final product. This review provides an evaluation of suggested decontamination technologies for seeds and sprouts before, during, and after germination and concludes that thermal inactivation of seeds and irradiation of sprouts are the most practical stand-alone microbial safety interventions for sprout production.

Matched MeSH terms: Food Handling/standards
Fulltext Risk factors and spatial distribution of extended spectrum β-lactamase-producing- Escherichia coli at retail poultry meat markets in Malaysia: a cross-sectional study

Aliyu AB, Saleha AA, Jalila A, Zunita Z

BMC Public Health, 2016 08 02;16:699.
PMID: 27484086 DOI: 10.1186/s12889-016-3377-2

BACKGROUND: The significant role of retail poultry meat as an important exposure pathway for the acquisition and transmission of extended spectrum β-lactamase-producing Escherichia coli (ESBL-EC) into the human population warrants understanding concerning those operational practices associated with dissemination of ESBL-EC in poultry meat retailing. Hence, the objective of this study was to determine the prevalence, spatial distribution and potential risk factors associated with the dissemination of ESBL-EC in poultry meat retail at wet-markets in Selangor, Malaysia.
METHODS: Poultry meat (breast, wing, thigh, and keel) as well as the contact surfaces of weighing scales and cutting boards were sampled to detect ESBL-EC by using culture and disk combination methods and polymerase chain reaction assays. Besides, questionnaire was used to obtain data and information pertaining to those operational practices that may possibly explain the occurrence of ESBL-EC. The data were analysed using logistic regression analysis at 95 % CI.
RESULTS: The overall prevalence of ESBL-EC was 48.8 % (95 % CI, 42 - 55 %). Among the risk factors that were explored, type of countertop, sanitation of the stall environment, source of cleaning water, and type of cutting board were found to be significantly associated with the presence of ESBL-EC.
CONCLUSIONS: Thus, in order to prevent or reduce the presence of ESBL-EC and other contaminants at the retail-outlet, there is a need to design a process control system based on the current prevailing practices in order to reduce cross contamination, as well as to improve food safety and consumer health.

Matched MeSH terms: Food Handling/standards
Tetraplex PCR assay involving double gene-sites discriminates beef and buffalo in Malaysian meat curry and burger products

Hossain MA, Ali ME, Hamid SB, Hossain SM, Asing, Nizar NN, et al.

Food Chem, 2017 Jun 01;224:97-104.
PMID: 28159299 DOI: 10.1016/j.foodchem.2016.12.062

Replacement of beef by buffalo and vice versa is frequent in global markets, but their authentication is challenging in processed foods due to the fragmentation of most biomarkers including DNA. The shortening of target sequences through use of two target sites might ameliorate assay reliability because it is highly unlikely that both targets will be lost during food processing. For the first time, we report a tetraplex polymerase chain reaction (PCR) assay targeting two different DNA regions in beef (106 and 120-bp) and buffalo (90 and 138-bp) mitochondrial genes to discriminate beef and buffalo in processed foods. All targets were stable under boiling, autoclaving and microwave cooking conditions. A survey in Malaysian markets revealed 71% beef curries contained buffalo but there was no buffalo in beef burgers. The assay detected down to 0.01ng DNA and 1% meat in admixed and burger products.

Matched MeSH terms: Food Handling/standards