Microbial presence on the food handlers’ hands and apron surfaces from selected primary school canteens in Kota Bharu, Kelantan

Food handlers in many setting have been responsible for food borne disease outbreaks and reports have identified their hands as the major source of pathogens in the implicated food. In Kelantan, the majority of food poisoning episodes occurred in the primary school. This study aimed to determine...

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Main Author: Saupe, Fatin Nabila Mohd
Format: Monograph
Language:English
Published: Universiti Sains Malaysia 2014
Subjects:
Online Access:http://eprints.usm.my/57779/1/FATIN%20NABILA%20BINTI%20MOHD%20SAUPE%20-%20e.pdf
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author Saupe, Fatin Nabila Mohd
author_facet Saupe, Fatin Nabila Mohd
author_sort Saupe, Fatin Nabila Mohd
collection USM
description Food handlers in many setting have been responsible for food borne disease outbreaks and reports have identified their hands as the major source of pathogens in the implicated food. In Kelantan, the majority of food poisoning episodes occurred in the primary school. This study aimed to determine the presence of aerobic plate count (APC), total coliforms count (TCC), Escherichia coli, and Staphylococcus aureus on food handlers’ hands and their aprons. In this cross sectional study, a total of 135 surface samples (left hand, 45; right hand, 45; and apron, 45) were collected by convenience sampling from 45 food handlers at 9 primary school canteens in Kota Bharu. Sampling was performed by swabbing the surfaces of both hands and apron of the food handlers. The microbiological analyses for APC, TCC, E. coli, and S. aureus were carried out and determined in cfu/cm2. Of the 45 food handlers sampled, 28 (62%) and 17 (38%) had satisfactory and unsatisfactory level of hygiene, respectively. Overall findings revealed that 60% and 64% of the swab samples had satisfactory APC (<103 cfu/cm2) and TCC (<102 cfu/cm2), respectively. However, 40 % of the aprons, 42% of the right hands and 38% of the left hands samples had unsatisfactory APC level (>103 cfu/cm2). Similarly, 36% of the aprons, 38% of right hands and 33% of the left hands samples had unsatisfactory TCC (>10 cfu/cm2). Besides, food handlers with unsatisfactory hygiene level for both hands showed very high APC (77%) and TCC (93%) on the aprons. This indicates that there was a significant association between hygiene status of hands and the microbiological quality aureus were not detected in any of the samples. As a conclusion, the overall hygiene status of food handlers is still poor and may continually contribute to food poisoning episodes in primary schools.
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spelling usm.eprints-577792023-05-02T08:16:43Z http://eprints.usm.my/57779/ Microbial presence on the food handlers’ hands and apron surfaces from selected primary school canteens in Kota Bharu, Kelantan Saupe, Fatin Nabila Mohd RA Public aspects of medicine Food handlers in many setting have been responsible for food borne disease outbreaks and reports have identified their hands as the major source of pathogens in the implicated food. In Kelantan, the majority of food poisoning episodes occurred in the primary school. This study aimed to determine the presence of aerobic plate count (APC), total coliforms count (TCC), Escherichia coli, and Staphylococcus aureus on food handlers’ hands and their aprons. In this cross sectional study, a total of 135 surface samples (left hand, 45; right hand, 45; and apron, 45) were collected by convenience sampling from 45 food handlers at 9 primary school canteens in Kota Bharu. Sampling was performed by swabbing the surfaces of both hands and apron of the food handlers. The microbiological analyses for APC, TCC, E. coli, and S. aureus were carried out and determined in cfu/cm2. Of the 45 food handlers sampled, 28 (62%) and 17 (38%) had satisfactory and unsatisfactory level of hygiene, respectively. Overall findings revealed that 60% and 64% of the swab samples had satisfactory APC (<103 cfu/cm2) and TCC (<102 cfu/cm2), respectively. However, 40 % of the aprons, 42% of the right hands and 38% of the left hands samples had unsatisfactory APC level (>103 cfu/cm2). Similarly, 36% of the aprons, 38% of right hands and 33% of the left hands samples had unsatisfactory TCC (>10 cfu/cm2). Besides, food handlers with unsatisfactory hygiene level for both hands showed very high APC (77%) and TCC (93%) on the aprons. This indicates that there was a significant association between hygiene status of hands and the microbiological quality aureus were not detected in any of the samples. As a conclusion, the overall hygiene status of food handlers is still poor and may continually contribute to food poisoning episodes in primary schools. Universiti Sains Malaysia 2014 Monograph NonPeerReviewed application/pdf en http://eprints.usm.my/57779/1/FATIN%20NABILA%20BINTI%20MOHD%20SAUPE%20-%20e.pdf Saupe, Fatin Nabila Mohd (2014) Microbial presence on the food handlers’ hands and apron surfaces from selected primary school canteens in Kota Bharu, Kelantan. Project Report. Universiti Sains Malaysia. (Submitted)
spellingShingle RA Public aspects of medicine
Saupe, Fatin Nabila Mohd
Microbial presence on the food handlers’ hands and apron surfaces from selected primary school canteens in Kota Bharu, Kelantan
title Microbial presence on the food handlers’ hands and apron surfaces from selected primary school canteens in Kota Bharu, Kelantan
title_full Microbial presence on the food handlers’ hands and apron surfaces from selected primary school canteens in Kota Bharu, Kelantan
title_fullStr Microbial presence on the food handlers’ hands and apron surfaces from selected primary school canteens in Kota Bharu, Kelantan
title_full_unstemmed Microbial presence on the food handlers’ hands and apron surfaces from selected primary school canteens in Kota Bharu, Kelantan
title_short Microbial presence on the food handlers’ hands and apron surfaces from selected primary school canteens in Kota Bharu, Kelantan
title_sort microbial presence on the food handlers hands and apron surfaces from selected primary school canteens in kota bharu kelantan
topic RA Public aspects of medicine
url http://eprints.usm.my/57779/1/FATIN%20NABILA%20BINTI%20MOHD%20SAUPE%20-%20e.pdf
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