Since early 2000, Malaysian food-export industries have recognised the demand for food
compliant with Islamic dietary law (halal), with primary consumer choices based on quality
and safety. The lack of documented monitoring for health hazards and haram substances led
to the withdrawal of certification. The HACCP-based halal quality-assurance standards were
developed as a result, using the HACCP criteria for safety, religious dietary requirement and
quality. Halal critical control points (HlCCP) are identified using HACCP criteria and a question
tree on HALAL processing and storage. This approach harmonizes and unifies halal processing
with the specific food industry via an HACCP–based halal quality-assurance system.
Matched MeSH terms: Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Points
The objectives of this study were predicting the transmission and survival of L. monocytogenes in cooked ham during supply chain. Cooked ham are frequently contaminated with L. monocytogenes during postprocessing steps through contact on surface of processing, handling, packaging equipment. Transfer rate of L. monocytogenes on static and dynamic condition in various surface type was investigated. The prevalence and level of L. monocytogenes in cooked ham at plant as well as the prevalence of unsatisfactory processing at retail were studied. A Monte Carlo simulation model was created by using @risk. The simulation predicted that the prevalence was 11.76 % with 90% confidence interval of 2% to 25% and estimated level was -4.02 log CFU/cm2. It was estimated to be occurred on slicing step at plant. Our results suggest that, the prevalence and level of L. monocytogenes can be reduced by Good Handling Process application and/or HACCP application.
Matched MeSH terms: Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Points
Lateral flow assays (LFAs) hold great promise for point-of-care testing, especially in resource-poor settings. However, the poor sensitivity of LFAs limits their widespread applications. To address this, we developed a novel device by integrating dialysis-based concentration method into LFAs. The device successfully achieved 10-fold signal enhancement in Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) nucleic acid detection with a detection limit of 0.1nM and 4-fold signal enhancement in myoglobin (MYO) detection with a detection limit of 1.56ng/mL in less than 25min. This simple, low-cost and portable integrated device holds great potential for highly sensitive detection of various target analytes for medical diagnostics, food safety analysis and environmental monitoring.
Matched MeSH terms: Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Points
A review of the literature indicates that food scientists and health authorities in several countries, especially member countries of the European Union, are still very concerned about the potential health hazards of oxidized products and lipid polymers formed in repeatedly-used deep frying oils. During the frying process at temperatures of 170° – 200°C, steam formed from moisture in the food being fried help volatile products rise to the surface of the frying medium and into the kitchen atmosphere, imparting a mixture of fried-flavours and off-flavours. The non-volatile compounds formed, however, gradually build up in the oil as it is being repeatedly-used for food frying operations. These non-volatiles, primarily “polar compounds” (PC) and to a lesser extent lipid polymers, get absorbed into fried foods and eventually end up in our body system. Available local data suggests that deep-frying oil samples obtained from food hawkers and those produced under simulated deep-frying conditions in the laboratory, are generally safe as they contain PC within safe limits and rarely exceed the upper limit (UL) of 25%. This contrasts with the situation in some European countries where a very high proportion of frying oil samples collected from fast-food restaurants were reported to contain PC exceeding this UL. Appropriately, promotion of Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Points (HACCP) certification and gazetting of food regulations to limit the PC content in frying oils have been introduced in these countries to protect the health of consumers. Meanwhile, simple gadgets/test kits are available commercially to monitor the quality of the frying oil. This would greatly assist kitchen supervisors at restaurants and franchised friedfood outlets to know when best to change a batch of frying oil before the ULs of frying oil quality are breached.
Matched MeSH terms: Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Points
A total of 85 food handlers participated in this study to determine the hygienic status of their hands in primary schools located in the state of Selangor (Malaysia). Overall findings revealed that the fecal contamination and personal hygiene of the food handlers were well maintained with the range of mean bacterial counts from 0.18 to 0.47 log10 Colony Forming Units/cm2 during the three intervals of hand swabbing (before, during and after) preparation of ready-to-eat foods. However, the general indication of the microbiological quality (Aerobic Plate Count) was out of the standard (range of mean bacterial counts from 1.39 to 1.56 log10 Colony Forming Units/cm2) based on previous literature. This study highlighted that the food handler’s adherence to Good Manufacturing Practice and Sanitation Standard Operating Procedures was insufficient and suggested that attention should be emphasized on their practices at the intervals of school recess: before, during and after the preparation of ready-to-eat foods. In addition, there is also a need in the implementation of an effective HACCP program in Malaysia school foodservice operations.
Matched MeSH terms: Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Points
Refined red palm-pressed mesocarp olein (PPMO) is recovered from palm-pressed mesocarp fiber, which is a by-product from palm oil mill. Its utilization in food industry is extremely limited even though it contains various phytonutrients. Thus, this study aimed to evaluate its toxicity effects by using the male Sprague-Dawley rat model. The rats were administered with a single dose of 2 g/kg PPMO in an acute toxicity study while administered with 2, 1, or 0.5 g/kg PPMO daily for 28 days in a sub-chronic toxicity study. The mortality, oral LD50 value, clinical observation, body and organ weight, hematological and biochemical analyses, pathological and histopathological examinations were assessed. The overall outcomes indicated that PPMO is non-toxic up to 2 g/kg and considered safe to be used in food application, especially as functional food ingredient and supplement attributed to its phytonutrients. Besides, this study provides an insight in alternative utilization of the wastes from palm oil mill.
Matched MeSH terms: Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Points/methods*
The objective of this study was to compare the antioxidant activity and cytotoxicity of Durio zibethinus M. (Durian) leaf extract from two extraction methods. Ultrasound-assisted extraction and Accelerated-solvent extraction were used to produce crude extract. The results revealed that UAE achieved 3× higher in total phenolic content in the leaf extract compared to ASE. DPPH radical scavenging activity was 4.6× higher in leaf extract from ASE. No significant differences reported in ferric reducing power, and total flavonoid content of the leaf extract between the two methods. Cytotoxicity via MTT assay demonstrated no significant differences in cell viability upon exposure to the leaf extract from both methods. This suggested that they were appropriate in producing Durio zibethinus M. leaf extract for end use application in food related product. Both ensured similar level of safety in Durio zibethinus M. leaf extract as a new potential ingredient for the food industry.
Matched MeSH terms: Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Points
To examine the human exposure to a novel silver and copper nanoparticle (AgNP and CuNP)/polystyrene-polyethylene oxide block copolymer (PS-b-PEO) food packaging coating, the migration of Ag and Cu into 3% acetic acid (3% HAc) food simulant was assessed at 60 °C for 10 days. Significantly lower migration was observed for Ag (0.46 mg/kg food) compared to Cu (0.82 mg/kg food) measured by inductively coupled plasma - atomic emission spectrometry (ICP-AES). In addition, no distinct population of AgNPs or CuNPs were observed in 3% HAc by nanoparticle tracking analysis (NTA) and transmission electron microscopy (TEM). The predicted human exposure to Ag and Cu was used to calculate a margin of exposure (MOE) for ionic species of Ag and Cu, which indicated the safe use of the food packaging in a hypothetical scenario (e.g. as fruit juice packaging). While migration exceeded regulatory limits, the calculated MOE suggests current migration limits may be conservative for specific nano-packaging applications.
Matched MeSH terms: Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Points
A specific safety concern is the possibility that a dietary supplement could be contaminated with heavy metals. This research was undertaken to investigate the daily exposure levels of heavy metals in dietary supplements available in the UAE and to explore the factors associated with the contamination of dietary supplements with heavy metals. A total of 277 dietary supplement samples were collected from the UAE market and prepared for the analysis of selected heavy metal contamination. Inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (ICP-MS) was used to determine the presence of heavy metals. The average daily intake of cadmium was 0.73 μg [95% CI 0.61-0.85], compared to the acceptable daily intake (ADI) of 6 μg; the daily intake of lead was 0.85 μg [95% CI 0.62-1.07], compared to the acceptable daily intake (ADI) of 20 μg; and the daily intake of arsenic was 0.67 μg [95% CI 0.57-0.78], compared to the acceptable daily intake of 10 μg. Although the dietary supplements available in the UAE have low levels of heavy metal contamination, numerous individuals are consuming a number of different dietary supplements every day and thereby may experience a cumulative level of toxic exposure. Dietary supplements formulations (Categories), dosage forms and country of origin are strong determents of heavy metal contamination in dietary supplements products.
Matched MeSH terms: Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Points