• Journal of Food Hygiene and Safety
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• v.37 no.2
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• pp.87-96
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• 2022

Recently, the purchase of fresh-cut produce and meal kits has increased. Ready-to-eat (RTE) fresh-cut products have potentially hazard of cross-contamination of various microorganisms in the processes of peeling, slicing, dicing, and shredding. There are frequent cases of protozoa food poisoning, such as Cyclospora and Cryptosporidium, caused by fresh-cut products. The objective of the study is to investigate the microbiological qualities of various types of RTE fresh-cut products in the domestic on/offline markets. RTE fresh-cut fruits cup (n=100), fresh-cut vegetables (n=50), and vegetables in meal kits (Vietnamese spring rolls and white radish rolls kits, n=50) were seasonally analyzed. The contamination levels of hygienic indicator organisms, yeast and mold (YM), and foodborne pathogens (Bacillus cereus, Staphylococcus aureus, Listeria monocytogenes, Salmonella spp., and Escherichia coli O157:H7) were monitored. Overall, the lowest microbiological qualities of meal kits vegetables were observed, followed by RTE fresh-cut fruits cup and fresh-cut vegetables. Contamination levels of total aerobic bacteria, coliforms, and YM in meal kits vegetables were 5.91, 3.90, and 4.71 logs CFU/g, respectively. From the qualitative analysis, 6 out of 200 RTE fresh-cut products (3%) returned positive result for S. aureus. From the quantitative analysis, the contamination levels of S. aureus in purple cabbage from a meal-kit and fresh-cut pineapple were below the acceptable limit (100 CFU/g). Staphylococcus enterotoxin seg and sei genes were detected in RTE fresh-cut celery and red cabbage from meal-kits, respectively. S. aureus contamination must be carefully controlled during the manufacturing processes of RTE fresh-cut products. Neither Cyclospora cayetanensis nor Cryptosporidium parvum was detected in the samples of RTE fresh-cut products and vegetables from meal-kits from the Korean retail markets.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Food Science and Nutrition
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• v.32 no.1
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• pp.35-41
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• 2003

The study was conducted to develope a rapid method for the detection of Yersinia enterocolitica in spring water and vegetables via multiplex polymerase chain reaction (PCR) technique using ail, yst, uirF and subgenus-specific Y16S primers. Specificity and sensitivity of multiplex PCR and application of best primers for the detection of Y. enterocolitica from spring water and vegetables were investigeted. Y. enterocolitica ATCC 27729 strains gave 356 bP and 200 bp (Y16S) and 134 bp (yst) bands. but Y. enterocolitica ATCC 9610 and ATCC 23715 strains gave 200 bp and 134 bp bands.In the meanwhile, non-pathogenic Yersinia species, such as Y. frederikseni, Y. inter-media, Y. kristenseni and Y. pseudotuberculosis gave only single 200 bp band, and other bacteria including Escherichia coli O157:H7 ATCC 25392, Shigella dysenteri. Staphylococcu aureus ATCC 25923 and Listeria mo-nocytogenes ATCC 19111 did not show any bands. Among primers, yst and Y16S primer showed the best sensitivity. Seven CFU/mL Y. enterocolitica cells could be detected with yst and Y16S primers and the sensitivity was significantly improved by the further 2nd PCR after 38 cycles of first PCR amplication. Spring water, cabbage and mushroom were inoculated with Y. enterocolitica to determine the sensitivity of multiplex-PCR for the rapid detection of Y. enterocolitica. Multiplex-PCR assay could detect 7 or 70 cells in spring water and vegetables using whole cell lysate with repeating PCR amplication.