SURVEILLANCE STUDY OF BACTERIAL CONTAMINATION ON VEGETABLES AND ‘ULAM’ SOLD IN JELI MARKET, KELANTAN

Abstract

Jeli wet market is a famous wet market among local where people can find fresh vegetables and poultry for daily consumption. Vegetables and ‘ulam’ are important to supply high vitamins for human’s health. ‘Ulam’ is Malaysian salad that is eaten raw or slightly processed. However, the consumption of contaminated fresh produce may result to foodborne illness. The impact of this disease associated with foodborne outbreaks that happened with symptoms such as diarrhoea. The common bacteria that able to cause this problem are Escherichia coli, Staphylococcus aureus and Salmonella typhi. All of these bacteria can be found typically in food included in raw vegetables and ‘ulam’ which obtained either from the farm, transport or in the wet market. In this study, the presence of bacteria in vegetables and ‘ulam’ sold in Jeli wet market were evaluated and identified. Results show that some fresh produce, such as cassava, Chinese okra, 'pucuk ubi kayu,' and 'pucuk kaduk,' are not safe to consume. The rest of the produce is considered safe, with bacterial levels below 10⁶ CFU/mL, as recommended by the World Health Organization (WHO). The presence of bacteria in the fresh produce was confirmed using selective media, Gram staining, catalase tests, and TSI agar tests.