Title: Quantitative risk assessment of acquiring listeriosis from consumption of minimally processed vegetables

Authors: Jeyaletchumi Ponniah; Tunung Robin; Margaret Selina Paie; Lay Ching Chai; Son Radu; Yoke Kqueen Cheah; Farinazleen Mohd. Ghazali; Mitsuaki Nishibuchi; Yoshitsugu Nakaguchi; Pradeep Malakar

Addresses: Public Health Department, Ministry of Health, Food Safety and Quality Division, Federal Government Administrative Centre, Level 3, Block E7, Parcel E, 62590 Putrajaya, Malaysia. ' Faculty of Food Science and Technology, Centre of Excellence for Food Safety, Universiti Putra Malaysia, 43400, UPM, Serdang, Selangor Darul Ehsan, Malaysia. ' Ministry of Health Malaysia, Hospital Kajang, Jalan Semenyih, 43000, Kajang, Selangor Darul Ehsan, Malaysia. ' Faculty of Food Science and Technology, Centre of Excellence for Food Safety, Universiti Putra Malaysia, 43400, UPM, Serdang, Selangor Darul Ehsan, Malaysia. ' Faculty of Food Science and Technology, Centre of Excellence for Food Safety, Universiti Putra Malaysia, 43400, UPM, Serdang, Selangor Darul Ehsan, Malaysia. ' Department of Biomedical Sciences, Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences, University Putra Malaysia, 43300 UPM Serdang, Selangor, Malaysia ' Faculty of Food Science and Technology, Centre of Excellence for Food Safety, Universiti Putra Malaysia, 43400, UPM, Serdang, Selangor Darul Ehsan, Malaysia. ' Division of Intergrated Area Studies, Center for Southeast Asian Studies, Kyoto University, 46 Shimoadachi-cho, Yoshida Sakyo-ku, Kyoto, 606-8501, Japan. ' Division of Intergrated Area Studies, Center for Southeast Asian Studies, Kyoto University, 46 Shimoadachi-cho, Yoshida Sakyo-ku, Kyoto, 606-8501, Japan ' Department of Food Safety Science, Institute of Food Research, Norwich University Park, Norwich NR4 7UA, UK

Abstract: Listeriosis is a serious invasive disease with high fatality rates especially among the vulnerable population. Although the causative pathogen had been detected in several foods in Malaysia, there have so far been no reported cases of listeriosis in Malaysia. The aim of this study was to carry out a quantitative risk assessment to estimate the risk of acquiring listeriosis through the consumption of minimally processed salad vegetables in Malaysia. The probability of illness per serving was calculated using an exponential dose-response model for high-risk and low-risk groups of consumer using the stochastic approach. The risk estimate of acquiring listeriosis for the healthy population was 1.98 × 10⁻⁴ per 100,000 population. For susceptible population, the risk estimate was considerably higher, i.e., 0.172 per 100,000 population for AIDS patients, 0.00496 per 100,000 population for diabetics and 0.149 per 100,000 for the elderly population.

Keywords: listeriosis; minimally processed vegetables; risk assessment; susceptibility; Malaysia; AIDS patients; diabetics; elderly.

DOI: 10.1504/IJFSNPH.2011.044548

International Journal of Food Safety, Nutrition and Public Health, 2011 Vol.4 No.2/3/4, pp.248 - 263

Received: 16 Jul 2010
Accepted: 11 Aug 2011
Published online: 27 Nov 2014 *

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