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Safeguarding the high quality of halal food products is a new realm to explore with the advent of new technologies. The efficiency of food industry management has boosted the applicability of product traceability system with the aid of the internet of things (IoT). Traceability system with the use of IoT has facilitated food industry players in managing their product information along the supply chain. As one of the halal food industry key players, halal agro-food small and medium enterprises (SMEs) are reportedly yet to embrace the adoption of IoT. With IoT, halal agro-food SMEs supply chain has undoubtedly provided a trusted platform. However, halal related issues and scandals in the market are recurring persistently. Besides, the emergence of IoT in the agriculture sector requires active involvement by halal agro-food SMEs. Thus, the objective of this study was to investigate the adoption of IoT among Malaysian halal agro-food SMEs and its challenges. A self-administered questionnaire was employed to gather data from selected 158 halal agro-food SMEs. Descriptive analysis, mean score analysis, and Pearson correlation analysis were carried out to analyze the data. The results showed a lack of IoT adoption among halal agro-food SMEs in managing their business activities. The SMEs were also found to be low tech-savvy users of IoT in managing their halal products. Therefore, a vast improvement is needed in implementing IoT among Malaysian halal agro-food SMEs.

Emerging pollutants known as endocrine-disrupting compounds (EDCs) are a contemporary global issue, especially in aquatic ecosystems. As aquaculture production through mariculture activities in Malaysia supports food production, the concentration and distribution of EDCs in estuarine water ecosystems may have changed. Therefore, this current study aims to prepare a suitable and reliable method for application on environmental samples. Besides, this study also presented the occurrence of EDCs pollutant in Pulau Kukup, Johor, where the biggest and most active mariculture site in Malaysia takes place. Analytical methods based on a combination of solid-phase extraction with liquid chromatography tandem mass spectrometry (Solid-phase extraction (SPE)-LC-MS/MS) have been modified and optimised to examine the level of targeted EDCs contaminant. In the current study, this method displays high extraction recovery for targeted EDCs, ranging from 92.02% to 132.32%. The highest concentration detected is diclofenac (<0.47-79.89 ng/L) followed by 17β-estradiol (E2) (<5.28-31.43 ng/L) and 17αethynylestradiol (EE2) (<0.30-7.67 ng/L). The highest percentage distribution for the targeted EDCs in the current study is diclofenac, followed by EE2 and dexamethasone with the percentages of 99.44%, 89.53% and 73.23%, respectively. This current study can be a baseline assessment to understand the pollution profile of EDCs and their distribution in the estuarine water of the mariculture site throughout the world, especially in Malaysia. Owing to the significant concentration of targeted EDCs detected.

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