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High occurrences of Salmonella enterica serovar Enteritidis outbreak from table eggs have been reported worldwide over the past two decades. Consumptions of hard-boiled and half-boiled eggs are popular among Malaysians. However, there is a lack of study in the risk assessment of salmonellosis associated with different egg consumption patterns. The purpose of this study was to determine the survival rate of S. enterica ser. Enteritidis in different methods for cooking eggs (hard-boiled, half-boiled and a minimally cooked egg with hot cocoa drink) using the simulation model of consumers eating habits and the risk associated with different egg consumptions patterns. In this study, S. enterica ser. Enteritidis was not detected in the hard-boiled egg samples. However, the survival rate of S. enterica ser. Enteritidis in both the half-boiled and the raw egg samples were 3.15 log CFU/mL and 7.01 log CFU/mL, respectively. The Monte Carlo Simulation applying quantitative microbial risk assessments (QMRA) was carried out using 10,000 iterations to access the risk of acquiring salmonellosis by consuming eggs cooked under different heat treatments. The total dosage of S. enterica ser. Enteritidis ingested per serving meal in the hard-boiled, half-boiled and minimally cooked eggs were 0.00 CFU/g, 7.526×104 CFU/ mL and 5.433×108 CFU/mL, respectively. The consumptions of half-boiled and minimally cooked eggs were above infectious dosage level (102 to 104 CFU/mL). The annual risk for the three feature of methods were 0.00, 1.00 and 1.00, respectively. In this study, it was indicated that there was a high probability of acquiring salmonellosis through the consumption of half-boiled and minimally cooked eggs. Thus, the fully cooked eggs should be taken instead of the undercooked eggs to avoid consuming S. enterica ser. Enteritidis.

Presence of Salmonella in organic farming may lead to contamination in fresh produce. This study was designed to detect Salmonella contamination in organic vegetable farm situated in Serdang and to evaluate the antibiotic susceptibility profiles of the isolates. A total of 460 samples of brinjal, cucumber, ladies’ fingers and soil were collected and examined for the presence of Salmonella. The obtained isolates were identified and confirmed by biochemical characterization and serotyping. Antibiotic sensitivity profiles of the isolates were determined by using agar disk diffusion method. Salmonella spp. was detected in brinjal (1.7%, n=2), cucumber (1.7%, n=2), ladies’ fingers (2.5%, n=3) and soil (5.0%, n=5) samples. The prevalent serovars were Salmonella enterica ser. Senftenberg, S. enterica ser. Weltevreden and S. enterica ser. Corvallis. All strains were resistance to penicillin and vancomycin, with multiple antibiotic resistance (MAR) index between 0.21 and 0.36, demonstrated here as multi-drug resistant (MDR) Salmonella. The result highlighted that organic vegetables constituted potential sources of Salmonella, informing continuous monitoring and tightened surveillance are necessary to ensure food safety.

The eating of fresh and minimally processed vegetables is getting popular among Malaysians. This trend poses an increased risk of food poisoning associated with the consumption of fresh produce contaminated with pathogenic bacteria. Salmonellosis is a foodborne disease caused by several non-typhoidal Salmonella enterica serovars, predominantly serovars Enteritidis and Typhimurium. The present study aimed to determine the prevalence of Salmonella spp., S. enterica serovar Enteritidis and S. enterica serovar Typhimurium in fresh leafy vegetables such as cabbages (n = 40), lettuces (n = 20), and fruit vegetables such as tomatoes (n = 40), carrots (n = 40) and cucumbers (n = 40), which were sold by three different hypermarkets and a wet market in Kampar, Perak, Malaysia. The study was performed over a period of 13 months (January 2018 to January 2019). A combination of most probable number-multiplex polymerase chain reaction (MPN-mPCR) method was used to quantify the concentrations of Salmonella spp., S. enterica serovar Enteritidis and S. enterica serovar Typhimurium in the examined samples. The results of this study demonstrated that of the vegetables tested, tomatoes, carrots and lettuces were not contaminated by Salmonella spp., S. enterica serovar Enteritidis and S. enterica serovar Typhimurium. However, the presence of Salmonella spp. was detected in 3.3% of cabbages from the hypermarket, with estimated microbial loads ranging from 1,100 MPN/g. This indicated that cabbages and cucumbers could be the potential sources of salmonellosis. Therefore, the monitoring of food safety and hygienic practices should be strictly enforced by relevant government agencies to avoid potential poisoning by foodborne pathogens.

Consumption of chicken offal is common and famous among Malaysians as it is often served as one of the side dishes with rice. Chicken offal can be a potential source of Listeria monocytogenes because slaughtered animals are recognized as a reservoir for foodborne pathogens. L. monocytogenes is a dangerous foodborne pathogen which can cause severe foodborne listeriosis with high fatality rate. This study aimed to determine the efficacy of different washing pre-treatment and cooking methods to reduce L. monocytogenes in artificially contaminated chicken offal. All the washing pre-treatments (dip treatment in different water sources and wash treatment with different water flow rates) showed significant reduction of the pathogen (p

Food safety in Malaysia is not considered an issue yet. From the previous year (2005- 2015) records, the incidence rate of food poisoning had been fluctuating and despite that, cases continue to occur especially among school students. As a developing nation, it is high-time that Malaysia begins to emphasize on food safety to reduce the burden of foodborne illness in the socio-economic development of the country, and at the same time, gain benefits in terms of economic returns and trade through food safety enforcement. Most importantly, public health is achieved through food safety implementation and accentuation. The current standing point of the Malaysia’s food safety is discussed in this review. In addition, the review will also discuss the role of academicians as intervention contributions in tackling food safety issues. The review is hoped to provide valuable and concentrated information and knowledge to readers in the light to drive Malaysia into ensuring safer food for the public.

Irrespective of its health effects, street foods are very popular with the consumers. The main purpose of this research was to study the biosafety of Escherichia coli in popiah, a Malaysian street food sold at a roadside food stall and a restaurant in Sri Serdang, Selangor, Malaysia, using the combination of the most probable number (MPN)-Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR) assay-plating on Eosin Methylene Blue (EMB) agar methods. Using these biomolecular methods, E. coli was detected in 12/15 (80%) and 11/15 (73%) of the collected samples from the roadside food stall and the restaurant respectively. The incidence of stx virulence-associated genes was detected in 1/15 (7%) among the E. coli isolated from samples taken from the roadside food stall while the E. coli isolated from the restaurant was 3/15 (20%). The density of E. coli ranged from 1100 MPN/g and the density of E. coli positive with stx genes was