The eating of fresh and minimally processed vegetables is getting popular among
Malaysians. This trend poses an increased risk of food poisoning associated with the
consumption of fresh produce contaminated with pathogenic bacteria. Salmonellosis is a
foodborne disease caused by several non-typhoidal Salmonella enterica serovars,
predominantly serovars Enteritidis and Typhimurium. The present study aimed to
determine the prevalence of Salmonella spp., S. enterica serovar Enteritidis and S.
enterica serovar Typhimurium in fresh leafy vegetables such as cabbages (n = 40),
lettuces (n = 20), and fruit vegetables such as tomatoes (n = 40), carrots (n = 40) and
cucumbers (n = 40), which were sold by three different hypermarkets and a wet market in
Kampar, Perak, Malaysia. The study was performed over a period of 13 months (January
2018 to January 2019). A combination of most probable number-multiplex polymerase
chain reaction (MPN-mPCR) method was used to quantify the concentrations of
Salmonella spp., S. enterica serovar Enteritidis and S. enterica serovar Typhimurium in
the examined samples. The results of this study demonstrated that of the vegetables tested,
tomatoes, carrots and lettuces were not contaminated by Salmonella spp., S. enterica
serovar Enteritidis and S. enterica serovar Typhimurium. However, the presence of
Salmonella spp. was detected in 3.3% of cabbages from the hypermarket, with estimated
microbial loads ranging from <3.0 MPN/g to 15.0 MPN/g. On the other hand, S. enterica
serovar Typhimurium was detected in 10.0% of the cucumbers from hypermarkets and
20% of them from the wet market. Their microbial loads were ranging from <3.0 MPN/g
to >1,100 MPN/g. This indicated that cabbages and cucumbers could be the potential
sources of salmonellosis. Therefore, the monitoring of food safety and hygienic practices
should be strictly enforced by relevant government agencies to avoid potential poisoning
by foodborne pathogens.