Microbiological assessment of food contact surfaces in residential college cafeterias at a local University in Malaysia

A food premise’s sanitation level can be reflected by the cleanliness of its food contact surfaces. Contaminated food contact surfaces along with poor handling methods by food handlers may increase the risk of foodborne diseases through cross-contamination events. This study aimed to assess the micr...

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Main Authors:	Siti Shahara Zulfakar, Nur Hidayah Abd. Hamid, Mazrura Sahani
Format:	Article
Language:	English
Published:	Penerbit Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia 2018
Online Access:	http://journalarticle.ukm.my/12227/ http://journalarticle.ukm.my/12227/ http://journalarticle.ukm.my/12227/1/17287-76537-1-PB.pdf

id	ukm-12227
recordtype	eprints
spelling	ukm-122272018-10-19T21:11:18Z http://journalarticle.ukm.my/12227/ Microbiological assessment of food contact surfaces in residential college cafeterias at a local University in Malaysia Siti Shahara Zulfakar, Nur Hidayah Abd. Hamid, Mazrura Sahani, A food premise’s sanitation level can be reflected by the cleanliness of its food contact surfaces. Contaminated food contact surfaces along with poor handling methods by food handlers may increase the risk of foodborne diseases through cross-contamination events. This study aimed to assess the microbiological contamination levels on food contact surfaces of 12 residential college cafeterias in a local university and its correlation with the cafeteria’s premise grade. The presence of selected indicator and pathogenic microorganisms (total viable count (TVC), total coliform, Escherichia coli, Staphylococcus aureus, Salmonella spp., and Shigella spp.) on food contact surfaces were also determined. Cutting boards, knives and utensils (cutleries, bowls and plates) that were used for ready-to-eat food were sampled for this study. The cafeteria’s premise grade was obtained based on the food premise inspection report by the university Health Centre. Three cafeterias have significantly higher (p < 0.05) bacterial counts (TVC) as compared to the international standard (1 log CFU/cm2). E. coli was only found in 2 cafeterias while Salmonella spp. was only detected on 7 of the cafeterias. Cutting boards were identified as the most contaminated food contact surface whereas utensils were the least contaminated. There was only a weak correlation between the microbiological levels on food contact surfaces and the cafeteria’s inspection grade (r = 0.02 p > 0.01). This study demonstrated that the sanitation level of food contact surfaces in the residential college cafeterias was only average. Improvements need to be done to increase the sanitation level of the cafeterias, thus assuring the safety of the food for consumers. Penerbit Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia 2018 Article PeerReviewed application/pdf en http://journalarticle.ukm.my/12227/1/17287-76537-1-PB.pdf Siti Shahara Zulfakar, and Nur Hidayah Abd. Hamid, and Mazrura Sahani, (2018) Microbiological assessment of food contact surfaces in residential college cafeterias at a local University in Malaysia. Jurnal Sains Kesihatan Malaysia, 16 (2). pp. 33-38. ISSN 1675-8161 http://ejournal.ukm.my/jskm/issue/view/685
repository_type	Digital Repository
institution_category	Local University
institution	Universiti Kebangasaan Malaysia
building	UKM Institutional Repository
collection	Online Access
language	English
description	A food premise’s sanitation level can be reflected by the cleanliness of its food contact surfaces. Contaminated food contact surfaces along with poor handling methods by food handlers may increase the risk of foodborne diseases through cross-contamination events. This study aimed to assess the microbiological contamination levels on food contact surfaces of 12 residential college cafeterias in a local university and its correlation with the cafeteria’s premise grade. The presence of selected indicator and pathogenic microorganisms (total viable count (TVC), total coliform, Escherichia coli, Staphylococcus aureus, Salmonella spp., and Shigella spp.) on food contact surfaces were also determined. Cutting boards, knives and utensils (cutleries, bowls and plates) that were used for ready-to-eat food were sampled for this study. The cafeteria’s premise grade was obtained based on the food premise inspection report by the university Health Centre. Three cafeterias have significantly higher (p < 0.05) bacterial counts (TVC) as compared to the international standard (1 log CFU/cm2). E. coli was only found in 2 cafeterias while Salmonella spp. was only detected on 7 of the cafeterias. Cutting boards were identified as the most contaminated food contact surface whereas utensils were the least contaminated. There was only a weak correlation between the microbiological levels on food contact surfaces and the cafeteria’s inspection grade (r = 0.02 p > 0.01). This study demonstrated that the sanitation level of food contact surfaces in the residential college cafeterias was only average. Improvements need to be done to increase the sanitation level of the cafeterias, thus assuring the safety of the food for consumers.
format	Article
author	Siti Shahara Zulfakar, Nur Hidayah Abd. Hamid, Mazrura Sahani,
spellingShingle	Siti Shahara Zulfakar, Nur Hidayah Abd. Hamid, Mazrura Sahani, Microbiological assessment of food contact surfaces in residential college cafeterias at a local University in Malaysia
author_facet	Siti Shahara Zulfakar, Nur Hidayah Abd. Hamid, Mazrura Sahani,
author_sort	Siti Shahara Zulfakar,
title	Microbiological assessment of food contact surfaces in residential college cafeterias at a local University in Malaysia
title_short	Microbiological assessment of food contact surfaces in residential college cafeterias at a local University in Malaysia
title_full	Microbiological assessment of food contact surfaces in residential college cafeterias at a local University in Malaysia
title_fullStr	Microbiological assessment of food contact surfaces in residential college cafeterias at a local University in Malaysia
title_full_unstemmed	Microbiological assessment of food contact surfaces in residential college cafeterias at a local University in Malaysia
title_sort	microbiological assessment of food contact surfaces in residential college cafeterias at a local university in malaysia
publisher	Penerbit Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia
publishDate	2018
url	http://journalarticle.ukm.my/12227/ http://journalarticle.ukm.my/12227/ http://journalarticle.ukm.my/12227/1/17287-76537-1-PB.pdf
first_indexed	2023-09-18T20:02:08Z
last_indexed	2023-09-18T20:02:08Z
_version_	1777406919142539264

Microbiological assessment of food contact surfaces in residential college cafeterias at a local University in Malaysia

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