The purpose of this study was to evaluate the quality characteristics of chicken sausage prepared with turmeric (Curcuma longa L.) powder (T) during storage at $4^{\circ}C$ for 20 days. The pH and color values (a and b values) of sausage containing turmeric powder were significantly higher (P<0.05) than the control for both uncooked and cooked sausage. The hardness, chewiness, and gumminess of control sausage significantly changed after 15 days of storage, while the hardness and gumminess of turmeric-supplemented sausages (T) significantly increased after 5 days (until 15 days) for cooked sausages. The total phenolic content and DPPH radical scavenging activity of turmeric-supplemented sausages was significantly higher (P<0.01) than the control for both uncooked and cooked sausage during storage. On the other hand, the acid value of the control was higher than the turmeric-supplemented sausages and the peroxide value of the control was significantly higher (P<0.05) than the turmeric-supplemented sausages after 15 days of storage. Microorganism analysis revealed that total plate counts of uncooked and cooked control sausages were significantly higher (P<0.05) than turmeric-supplemented sausages at 20 days of storage. As a result, sausages prepared with turmeric powder demonstrate antioxidative activity and lipid oxidative stability during storage.

This study examined the hygiene practices of contract foodservice employees and investigated the influence of education and work environment on these hygienes practices. A questionnaire was distributed to 250 contract foodservice employees and a total of 232 responses were received and analyzed. The overall score for hygiene practices of contract foodservice employees was 3.89 based on a 5-point scale. Cross-contamination was prominent (highest score at 4.46) and the heating temperature was less prominent (lowest score at 3.49). The factors most affecting contract foodservice employees were their work period, the size of the contract foodservice management company, the number of meals served daily, the frequency of meal service per day and the frequency of hygiene education. Compared to small and medium-sized contract foodservice management companies, the major contract foodservice management companies showed higher scores for refrigerator/freezer control (P<0.001), vegetable/fruit disinfection (P<0.001), thawing (P<0.001), heating temperature (P<0.001), cleaning/disinfection (P<0.01), and personal hygiene (P<0.05). The frequency of hygiene education had a significant effect on the performance levels for refrigerator/freezer control (P<0.001), vegetable/fruit disinfection (P<0.001), thawing (P<0.001), heating temperature (P<0.001), cleaning/disinfection control (P<0.001), food supply control (P<0.05), and personal hygiene (P<0.05). From these results, to increase the sanitation quality of contract foodservice operations, hygiene practice levels need to increase and hygiene education systematically should be enforced for foodservice employees.

The purpose of this study was to identify the association between health-related behaviors including smoking, alcohol intake, and the practice of a low-salt diet using data from a Community Health Survey conducted in 2008. The study subjects were 129,151 persons (19 years and older) without cardiovascular diseases or diabetes mellitus diagnosis history. An index for evaluating low salinity was created by summing three low salinity-related questions (range: 0~3), and a low-salt diet was defined if the index of low salinity was 3. We examined the levels of smoking and alcohol intake according to the index of low salinity, and conducted multiple logistic regression analysis to examine the odds ratios of low-salt diet practice in relation to smoking and drinking behavior, adjusting for general characteristics. The smoking and drinking status significantly improved as the level of low salinity index increase. Adjusting for general characteristics, those with smoking, alcohol intake, or a combined habit of the two behaviors had significantly lower odds ratios for practice of a low-salt diet. In conclusion, smoking and drinking behavior were negatively associated with the practice of a low-salt diet. Based on these findings, it may be necessary to have comprehensive nutritional education programs that consider the multiple effects of smoking, drinking, and a low-salt diet.

The purpose of this study was to assess the microbiological quality of home-delivered meals during production and delivery for children from low-income families. Production flows from a facility in Seoul that provides home-delivered meals were analyzed and the time-temperature of the food was measured. Microbiological assessment was performed for the production environment, personal hygiene, and food samples at each production and delivery step based on the process approach. It took 2 hours or longer from completion of production to meal delivery. An aerobic colony count (ACC) and coliform were not detected at knives, cutting boards, and dish towels. However, ACC (at pre-preparation, preparation, and packing areas) and coliform (at the preparation area) were detected on the hands and gloves of employees. Air-borne bacterial counts varied according to day and preparation area (ND~6 CFU/plate/15 min). Food temperatures, on the completion of production and meal delivery, fell into temperature danger zones. ACC and coliform counts of raw ingredients did not decrease after pre-preparation (washing and sanitizing) for menus involving food preparation with no cook step. ACC decreased after cooking step for menus of food preparation with cook step, but the ACC of the stir-fried and seasoned dried filefish fillet on the completion of cooking was too numerous to count due to improper heating. The ACC of seasoned young Chinese cabbages (a menu with complex food preparation) increased during delivery (from 2.5 log CFU/ml to 5.0 log CFU/ml). This qualitative assessment of foodborne pathogens revealed that B. cereus was detected in vegetable and meat product menus. These results suggest time-temperature control is necessary during production and delivery and management guidelines during production of home-delivered meals are provided for safe production.

The principal objective of this study was to examine the quality characteristics of yanggaeng supplemented with powder derived from Sanghwang mushroom (Phellinus linteus) mycelia. We analyzed the potential of utilizing Phellinus linteus mycelia as a functional food material by estimating total polyphenol and flavonoid contents, electron-donating abilities, as well as antioxidative activities of the water and ethanol extracts of Sanghwang mushroom mycelia. The total phenol and flavonoid contents of ethanol extracts from Phellinus linteus mycelia were 0.69 mg/ml and 0.16 mg/ml, respectively, while the contents from the water extract of Phellinus linteus mycelia were 0.66 mg/ml and 0.22 mg/ml, respectively. The electron-donating abilities of ethanol and water extracts from Phellinus linteus mycelia were 88.64 and 90.29%, respectively. The ABTS radical scavenging activities of ethanol and water extracts from Phellinus linteus mycelia were 89.74 and 71.35%, respectively. In terms of color values, as the level of powder increased, the value of L (lightness) decreased, whereas those of a (redness) and b (yellowness) increased. In regard to the mechanical properties of the samples, we noted significant differences in hardness, springiness, chewiness, and gumminess (P<0.05). The results of the sensory evaluation showed that the score from SHM (Sanghwang mushroom mycelia) with 4% powder was significantly higher than other samples in terms of sweetness, color, taste, texture and overall quality (P<0.05). Taken together, the recommended level of Phellinus linteus mycelia powder in yanggaeng is 4% for optimal sensory characteristics.

The present study was conducted to develop a standardized job description for clinical dietitians working in hospitals. A developing curriculum (DACUM) method was used for the job analysis of clinical dietitians. Based on DACUM analysis with 14 members, including clinical dietitians and professors majoring in clinical nutrition and job analysis, information on the duties, tasks, and task elements of clinical dietitians was determined. To verify the job descriptions derived from DACUM analysis, a total of 46 tertiary and general hospitals with over 500 beds were recruited for the survey. The final developed job description for clinical dietitians included 7 duties, 27 tasks, and 93 task elements. The duties consisted of nutritional assessment, nutrition diagnosis, nutrition intervention, nutrition monitoring evaluation, consultation cooperation, nutrition research, and self-development. The mean scores of perceived importance, performance, and difficulty on the clinical dietitian's task elements (out of a maximum score of 5.0) were 4.5, 3.7, and 3.5, respectively, with significant differences between the items (P<0.001). The perceived importance and performance grid of clinical dietitian's tasks showed that "construction and maintenance of collaboration" (E2) and "activity of quality improvement" (F1) received relatively low scores for performance despite their high importance scores; thus the performance of these tasks requires significant improvement. In conclusion, the job descriptions of clinical dietitians developed from this study are useful for the qualitative improvement of clinical nutrition services in hospitals.

This study examined the effectiveness of nutrition education and program using the diet rice bowl during a four-week diet program. Thirty-eight female college students were randomly assigned to a nutrition education (NE) group or a nutrition education and diet rice bowl (ND) group. The mean energy intake of the NE and ND group during the program was 1,130.8 kcal and 1,287.4 kcal, respectively. The total energy intake of both groups were significantly decreased during the program. In addition, the change of body weight and fat in both groups significantly decreased during the program. The NE group lost 2.8 kg of body weight and 1.4% of body fat, while the ND group lost 2.5 kg of body weight and 1.2% of body fat. The changes in total cholesterol and LDL-cholesterol in both groups also significantly decreased during the program. However, there were no significant differences in the changes of body weight, body fat mass, the total cholesterol and LDL-cholesterol between the two groups. This study could not identify a weight reduction effect of the diet rice bowl, however, this may be due to subjects' infrequent use of the diet rice bowl by their frequent meal skipping and eating-out in our study. Therefore, further studies regarding the compliance to the diet rice bowl should be conducted to examine its effectiveness on weight control.

The elderly population in Korea is rapidly growing. As the population ages, meals become a greater concern, as physical and psychological health problems are directly affected by dietary life, especially for the lower-income elderly. Although the government provides support through a free congregate meal service, there is a lack of systematic management of this meal service. This study investigates the experience of the elderly, especially the symbolic meaning and issues regarding the congregate meal service in their dietary life, to establish strategies for improving congregate meal services. Qualitative data was collected from ten elderly receivers of meal services through in-depth interviews and data was analyzed using Colaizzi's phenomenological research methods. Overall, 90 significant statements, 13 formulated meanings, and five theme clusters were deduced. The five theme clusters for the importance of meal services to the elderly included the followings: "a real meal", "enjoyment of living", "maintenance of regular life", "place for social life" and "meal of silence". We found that the elderly regarded the congregate free meal service not only as meals to appreciate but also as a form of social life. Furthermore, the elderly did not typically express any complaints regarding congregate meal services because they are free. The results showed that it might be difficult to evaluate the quality of meal services based on the opinions of the service receivers. This study suggests it is necessary to develop multilateral evaluation methods to reflect the needs of the elderly and to improve the congregate meal services at elderly welfare centers.