Mineral Oil Contamination Risk in Malaysian Palm Oil Mills: The Effects of Food Safety Practices on Food Safety Performance with Hygienic Equipment Design as an Antecedent Factor

The health risk concerns raised by the European Rapid Alert System for Food and Feed (RASFF) from increasing mineral oil hydrocarbon (MOH) contamination in global vegetable oils and fats, such as palm oil, have gained the attention of stakeholders. The drastically rising MOH pollution incidents diminish worldwide food safety, including Malaysia, as consuming chemically contaminated food can be harmful to health. Although reports of MOH contamination risks are available, the role of food safety practices in improving the food safety performance of palm oil mills has not been attentively addressed. Therefore, this study assessed the impacts of food safety practices on food safety performance, in which hygienic equipment design as an antecedent factor in MOH contamination prevention within Malaysian palm oil mills. This study is principally based on the Human Factors and Classification System (HFACS) and Structural Contingency Theory (SCT) as an underlying theoretical underpinning. Palm oil mills that meet pre-defined criteria were subjected to a quantitative survey following selection through simple random sampling. The findings can offer detailed insights to palm oil mill management on the latent factors of and improve food safety management practices in palm oil mills to mitigate MOH risks.