Author/Authors :
Leong, Y.H. Universiti Sains Malaysia - School of Industrial Technology - Division of Food Technology, Malaysia , Ismail, N. Universiti Sains Malaysia - School of Industrial Technology - Division of Food Technology, Malaysia , Latiff, A.A. Universiti Sains Malaysia - Doping Control Centre, Malaysia , Nurul Izzah, A. Institute for Medical Research - Environmental Health Research Centre, Malaysia , Narazah, M. Y. Universiti Sains Malaysia - Advance Medical Dental Institute (AMDI), Malaysia , Nurul Ain, A. B. Universiti Sains Malaysia - Health Centre, Malaysia
Abstract :
The nuts consumption pattern of Malaysian adults were assessed by a set of food frequency questionnaire collected from June to December 2008 from 364 adults (129 men and 235 women) which were selected by stratified random sampling from five areas of Penang state. Average total nuts consumption of 0.77 g/day among Penang adults was found to be no gender-specific difference but was significantly different (P 0.05) among ethnic groups with the highest among Indians (0.94 g/day). Kuih pau kacang was the most consumed product with a median of 0.81 g/day. Average monthly nuts expenses were only 0.4% from the household income. Majority of the adult population purchased nuts and their products twice a month (56.3%) from supermarket (34.7%). For the good benefits of nuts, authority should encourage higher nuts intake in Malaysia while enforce a more stringent regulation to protect the consumers from any health effect caused by aflatoxins in nuts and nut products.
