Food safety issues associated with aquatic food products become more important with the increasing consumption and followed by its ongoing challenges. The objective of this paper is to review the food safety hazards and health risks related to aquatic food products for the Southeast Asian region. These hazards can be categorized as microplastics (MPs) hazard, biological hazards (pathogenic bacteria, biogenic amines, viruses, parasites), and chemical hazards (antimicrobial , formaldehyde, heavy metal). In different Southeast Asian countries, the potential health risks of aquatic food products brought by food hazards to consumers were at different intensity and classes. Among all these hazards, pathogenic bacteria, antimicrobials, and heavy metal were a particular concern in the Southeast Asian region. With environmental changes, evolving consumption patterns, and the globalization of trade, new food safety challenges are created, which put forward higher requirements on food technologies, food safety regulations, and international cooperation.

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This study aimed to evaluate the microbiological quality of commercial fresh fish. A total of 7 marine fish species (n = 9 per species) were collected and sold from the wet market in Kota Kinabalu, Malaysia. The prevalence of Pseudomonas spp. (100%) in fish was the highest followed by Aeromonas spp. (58%), Escherichia coli (46.03%), Vibrio spp. (22%), and Salmonella spp. (6.35%). The mean of the total plate counts in gill, gastrointestinal tract, skin and flesh samples were 5.32 ± 0.69 log cfu/g, 4.81 ± 0.81 log cfu/g, 4.23 ± 0.58 log cfu/cm2 and 3.99 ± 0.58 log cfu/g, respectively. Therefore, fresh fish sold in Kora Kinabalu has the potential to be contaminated with pathogenic bacteria. Effective control measures are required to prevent contamination during postharvest fish processing and consumers are advised to avoid eating raw fish to reduce health hazards from bacteria.