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.
Microbiological contaminations in the laboratories create not only diagnostic issues but also pose a major health risk to lab users. This study was conducted to determine the airborne microbial contamination in seven selected laboratories (KA, KP, PB, NA, BP, CR and MB) at a local public university in Malaysia and to assess the level of contamination on the contact surfaces of the studied laboratories. Two types of sampling methods were used in this study; passive air sampling and contact surface swab sampling. The total microbial counts were determined using Tryptone Soya agar (bacterial count) and Potato Dextrose agar (fungal count). Results showed that NA laboratory had the highest level of total microbial contamination (20.33 ± 3.35 CFU/cm3). Most laboratories had significantly higher (p < 0.05) air fungal contamination level compared to bacterial contaminations except for PB and NA laboratories. Significant differences were observed for airborne bacterial contamination readings between sampling time (during working hours vs after hours) for all laboratories except for BP and CR. Overall, bacterial contamination was the highest for incubator door handles’ samples from MB laboratory with an average reading of 93.00 ± 1.43 CFU/cm2 whereas the highest fungal contamination level was obtained from door knobs and work benches, both from CR laboratory with an average reading of 73.33 ± 6.67 CFU/cm2 and 73.33 ± 0.58 CFU/cm2 respectively. Findings from this study could assist in monitoring the efficacy of the existing laboratory management systems namely on the good laboratory practices including aseptic techniques, care for laboratory hygiene and cross-contamination control practices by the laboratory users to ensure that the microbiological contaminations in the laboratories are minimized.
MUHAMMAD IKRAM A. WAHAB, PRITHINA RAJENDRAN, SITI HAZIMAH AYU ISMAIN, ANIS NAJWA HARUN, NUR ‘AFIFAH NAJWA MOHD PAUZI, KHAIRATUL FARHANA MD RODZI, et al.
This research was conducted to study the level of environmental literacy, attitude and behaviour of students in the Faculty of Health Sciences, UKM. A Google Form consisting of four sections: Demographic Information, Environmental Knowledge, Attitude, Practice and Challenges were distributed to students. Each section was scored based on the right answers given by the students. In this study, it was found that Nutritional Science Program students had the highest environmental knowledge, while Dietetics students practised the highest environmental attitude among the other courses. The second objective revealed a positive correlation r = 0.297; p < 0.05 between environmental knowledge and attitude among the students. However, this is a weak correlation, which means that students with higher levels of knowledge do not tend to have higher attitudes and vice versa. Students' main challenges to practice good environmental behaviour are lack of knowledge in the correct way of practising those behaviour. Poor legal enforcement is the second most reason why students take environmental issues for granted. Last but not least, the environmental challenges are directly proportional to the environmental attitude. In other words, when environmental challenges increase, the environmental attitude decreases. In conclusion, students' attitude towards the environment may always improve depending on their individual effort to contribute to a better environment.