• Journal of Food Hygiene and Safety
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• v.31 no.6
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• pp.414-419
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• 2016

The aims of this study were to investigate microbial contamination levels and to survey sanitation management between Good Agricultural Practices (GAP) and non-GAP farms of lettuce and cucumber. The samples (lettuce, cucumber, soil, agricultural water, gloves, and packing plastic bag) were tested to analyze sanitary indicator bacteria (total aerobic bacteria, coliforms and Escherichia coli) and major pathogenic bacteria (Staphylococcus aureus, Bacillus cereus). In the lettuce farms, the contamination levels of total aerobic bacteria and coliforms in GAP farms were little lower than non-GAP farms or similar. Staphylococcus aureus and Bacillus cereus in soil and agricultural water of GAP farms were detected at higher levels than non-GAP farms in soil and agricultural water. In the case of cucumber farms, levels of total bacteria and Bacillus cereus in soil and total bacteria and coliform in gloves of GAP farms were higher than those of non-GAP farms, and other bacteria contamination levels in collected samples were similar. These results indicate that agricultural products produced from GAP farm still exhibited potential microbial risks. According to the field survey, a sanitation management in GAP farms was insufficient. These results could be useful as basic data to suggestion of plan for preventing microbial contamination and to improvement of GAP certification.

• Food Science and Preservation
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• v.30 no.3
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• pp.459-471
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• 2023

The Bayesian network (BN) model was applied to analyze the characteristic variables that affect compliance with safety inspections of farmed eel during the production stage, using the data from 30,063 cases of eel aquafarm safety inspection in the Integrated Food Safety Information Network (IFSIN) from 2012 to 2021. The dataset for establishing the BN model included 77 non-conforming cases. Relevant HACCP data, geographic information about the aquafarms, and environmental data were collected and mapped to the IFSIN data to derive explanatory variables for nonconformity. Aquafarm HACCP certification, detection history of harmful substances during the last 5 y, history of nonconformity during the last 5 y, and the suitability of the aquatic environment as determined by the levels of total coliform bacteria and total organic carbon were selected as the explanatory variables. The highest achievable eel aquafarm noncompliance rate by manipulating the derived explanatory variables was 24.5%, which was 94 times higher than the overall farmed eel noncompliance rate reported in IFSIN between 2017 and 2021. The established BN model was validated using the IFSIN eel aquafarm inspection results conducted between January and August 2022. The noncompliance rate in the validation set was 0.22% (15 nonconformances out of 6,785 cases). The precision of BN model prediction was 0.1579, which was 71.4 times higher than the non-compliance rate of the validation set.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Food Science and Nutrition
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• v.41 no.2
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• pp.213-220
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• 2012

This study was conducted on 4th and 5th grade elementary school students in Daegu, Korea for the purpose of promoting health and proper dietary habits. A children food safety education program was developed and its effects evaluated on 4th and 5th graders (3,932 students for 4th year, 4,438 students for 5th year) at 46 elementary schools, which were under the jurisdiction of the four educational bureaus of Daegu city. Education was conducted in accordance with an education design plan, of which there were two goals, including know the contents of 'special act on children's dietary life safety management' and 'practice proper hand-washing'. 'Special act on children's dietary life safety management' was explained, and the education curriculum included proper hand-washing for prevention of food poisoning, quality certification mark on children's favorite foods, harmful foods such as unsanitary and adulterated foods, and green food zone. Flash songs, PowerPoint, 'glitter burger' notice note, and banner were used as education media. It was found that the awareness level of items related to 'special act on children's dietary life safety management' increased significantly after education (p<0.001). 'Necessity of nutrition education and children's food safety' also increased significantly (p<0.05) after education. Lastly, children answered that they washed their hands more often after education (62.9%) than before (60.7%).

• Food Science and Preservation
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• v.19 no.3
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• pp.376-384
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• 2012

This study was conducted to investigate the food purchasing management of school food services. The subjects consisted of 271 school dietitians in the Daegu and Gyeongbuk area. The percentages of ready-to-use vegetables actually being used were as follows: root of balloon flowers, 88.4%; garlic, 87.8%; blanched bracken, 80.1%; raw lotus root, 65.7%; burdock, 63.5%; small green onion, 63.5%; stem of taro, 57.6%; ginger, 35.1%; radish root, 30.6%; blanched asterscaber, 29.2%; large type welsh onion, 25.8%; carrot, 25.5%; onion, 21.4%; and potato, 8.9%. The percentages of HACCP-certified products being used were as follows: meat, 75.9%; eggs, 66.7%; soybean curds, 65.5%; ready-to-use seafood, 55.1%; starch jellies, 49.9%; spice, 44.9%; kimchi, 30.9%; ready-to-use vegetables, 22.7%; and fruits, 6.9%. The percentages of environment-friendly food items being used were as follows: eggs, 31.0%; meat, 28.7%; soybean curds, 22.1%; and fruits, 17.7%. Of these food items, meat and ready-to-use seafood were being used the most in the elementary schools. The percentages of imported food items being used were as follows: starch jelly, 29.2%; ready-to-use seafood, 24.7%; soybean curds, 20.5%; spice, 15.9%; and fruits, 10.1%. The food items requiring HACCP certification were as follows: beef and pork, 81.5%; chicken, 80.1%; ready-to-use seafood, 78.6%; frozen dumplings, 73.8%; soybean curds, 71.6%; peeled eggs, 70.8%; fish paste, 69.4%; starch jelly, 65.7%; milk, 63.1%; kimchi, 54.6%; spice, 50.6%; frozen noodle, 45.4%; ready-to-use vegetables, 44.3%; and bean sprouts, 29.5%. It was confirmed that 8.1% of the sanitation monitoring results were intentionally misreported. Therefore, to supply good and safe foods to schools, active management is needed in schools and food manufacturing and delivery companies.

• Analyses & Alternatives
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• v.2 no.1
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• pp.31-69
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• 2018

This study examines the role of science in resolving trade disputes. After the Great East Japan Earthquake of 11 March 2011 that not only jeopardized the people of Japan, but also put the safety of an entire region at risk, the Republic of Korea (Korea) has imposed import bans as well as increased testing and certification requirements for radioactive material on Japanese food products. Japan has challenged these restrictions at the World Trade Organizations Dispute Settlement Body (DSB). This study aims to explain how international trade agreements and previous DSB rulings have dealt with different scientific viewpoints provided by confronting parties. In doing so, it will contrast the viewpoints espoused by Korean and Japanese representatives, and then analyzes the most similar case studies previously ruled on by the DSB, including the case of beef hormones and the case of genetically modified crops including biotech corn, both between the United States and the European Communities (EC). This study finds that science is largely subordinate to national interests in the case of state decision-making within the dispute settlement processes, and science has largely been relegated to a supportive role. Due to the ambiguity and lack of truly decisive decisions in the Appellate Body in science-based trade disputes, this study concludes that the Appellate Body avoids taking a firm scientific position in cases where science is still inconclusive in any capacity. Due to the panel's unwillingness to establish expert review boards as it has the power to do, instead favoring an individual-based system so that all viewpoints can be heard, it has also developed a system with its own unique weaknesses. Similar to any court of law in which each opposing party defends its own interests, each side brings whatever scientific evidence it can to defend its position, incentivizing them to disregard scientific conclusions unfavorable to their position. With so many questions that can arise, combined with the problems of evolving science, questions of risk, and social concerns in democratic society, it is no wonder that the panel views scientific information provided by the experts as secondary to the legal and procedural issues. Despite being ruled against the EC on legal issues in two previous cases, the EC essentially won both times because the panel did not address whether its science was correct or not. This failure to conclusively resolve a debate over whose science is more scientific enabled the EC to simply fix the procedural issues, while continuing to enforce trade restrictions based on their scientific evidence. Based on the analysis of the two cases of disputes, Korea may also find itself guilty of imposing an unwarranted moratorium on Japan's fish exports, only to subsequently pass new restrictions on labelling and certification requirements because Japan may have much scientific evidence at its disposal. However, Korea might be able to create enough uncertainty in the panel to force them to rule exclusively on the legal issues of the case. This will then equip Korea, like the EC in the past, with a way of working around the ruling, by changing whatever legal procedure they need to while maintaining some, if not most, of its restrictions when the panel fails to address its case on scientific grounds.

• Horticultural Science & Technology
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• v.29 no.5
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• pp.389-406
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• 2011

As part of a feasibility study for introducing carbon labeling of fruit products in Korea, we explore the use of carbon footprints for Korean kiwifruit from Gyeongnam region as a case study. In Korea, the Korean Environmental Industry and Technology Institute (KEITI) is responsible for the carbon footprint labeling certification, and has two types of certification programs: one program focuses on climate change response (carbon footprint labeling analysis) and the other on low-carbon products (reduction of carbon footprints analysis). Currently agricultural products have not yet been included in the program. Carbon labeling could soon be a prerequisite for the international trading of agricultural products. In general the carbon footprints of various agricultural products from New Zealand followed the methodology described in the ISO standards and conformed to the PAS 2050. The carbon footprint assessment focuses on a supply chain, and considers the foreground and the background systems. The basic scheme consists of four phases, which are the 'goal', 'scope', 'inventory analysis', and 'interpretation' phases. In the case of the carbon footprint of New Zealand kiwifruit the study tried to understand each phase's contribution to total GHG emissions. According to the results, shipping, orchard, and coolstore operation are the main life cycle stages that contribute to the carbon footprint of the kiwifruit supply chain stretching from the orchard in New Zealand to the consumer in the UK. The carbon emission of long-distance transportation such as shipping can be a hot-spot of GHG emissions, but can be balanced out by minimizing the carbon footprint of other life cycle phases. For this reason it is important that orchard and coolstore operations reduce the GHG-intensive inputs such as fuel or electricity to minimize GHG emissions and consequently facilitate the industry to compete in international markets. The carbon footprint labeling guided by international standards should be introduced for fruit products in Korea as soon as possible. The already established LCA methodology of NZ kiwifruit can be applied for fruit products as a case study.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Food Science and Nutrition
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• v.45 no.6
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• pp.894-902
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• 2016

The purpose of this study was to analyze the attributes considered as important by parents in the selection of laver for infants through conjoint analysis techniques. A total of 917 questionnaires were distributed in January 2016, of which 211 were completed (23.0%). Statistical data analyses were performed using SPSS/Win 21.0 for descriptive statistics and conjoint analysis. The conjoint design was applied to evaluate the hypothetical laver for infants. According to the analysis of attributes and levels of laver for infants, the relative importance of each attribute was follows: seasoning (26.55%), flavor (19.33%), texture (18.75%), oil (15.15%), size (10.61%), and certification (9.61%). The results of the conjoint analysis indicate that parents raising infants preferred laver with the characteristics of non-seasoning, general flavor, softness, half-size, organic certification, and perilla oil. The most preferred laver for infants gained a 53.7% potential market share from choice simulation compared with laver being sold. Using utility and relative importance, the laver market for infants was classified into two segments. As a result of market segmentation, parents of cluster 1 preferred the laver model being sold (soy seasoning) while parents of cluster 2 preferred the optimized laver model (non-seasoning).

• Korean Journal of Environmental Agriculture
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• v.30 no.2
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• pp.169-178
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• 2011

BACKGROUND: This study aimed to estimate the measurement uncertainty associated with determination of cadmium and lead from tomato paste by ICP/MS. The sources of measurement uncertainty (i.e. sample weight, final volume, standard weight, purity, molecular weight, working standard solution, calibration curve, recovery and repeatability) in associated with the analysis of cadmium and lead were evaluated. METHODS AND RESULTS: The guide to the expression of uncertainty was used for the GUM (Guide to the expression of Uncertainty in Measurement) and Draft EURACHEM/CITAC (EURACHEM: A network of organization for analytical chemistry in Europe/Co-Operation on International Traceability in Analytical Chemistry) Guide with mathematical calculation and statistical analysis. The uncertainty components were evaluated by either Type A or Type B methods and the combined standard uncertainty were calculated by statistical analysis using several factors. Expected uncertainty of cadmium and lead was $0.106{\pm}0.015$ mg/kg (k=2.09) and $0.302{\pm}0.029$ mg/kg (k=2.16), on basis of 95% confidence of Certified Reference Material (CRM) which was within certification range of $0.112{\pm}0.007$ mg/kg for cadmium (k=2.03) and $0.316{\pm}0.021$ mg/kg for lead (k=2.01), respectively. CONCLUSION(s): The most influential components in the uncertainty of heavy metals analysis were confirmed as recovery, standard calibration curve and standard solution were identified as the most influential components causing uncertainty of heavy metal analysis. Therefore, more careful consideration is required in these steps to reduce uncertainty of heavy metals analysis in tomato paste.

• Korean journal of food and cookery science
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• v.21 no.3 s.87
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• pp.290-300
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• 2005

Increased sanitation management of foodservice establishments is required because most of the reported foodborne-disease outbreaks were in the foodservice industry. The purpose of this study was to determine the important control points for good sanitation. In this study, we inspected twenty foodservice establishments in Seoul, Kyunggi, Kyungnam with a self-developed monitoring tool. These foodservice establishments included secondary schools, universities, and industries. Six of them had appointed as the HACCP-certified establishments from the Korea Food and Drug Administration. The inspection was conducted from June to August in 2002. The inspection tool consisted of nine dimensions and sixty-five items. The dimensions were 'personal sanitation', 'supply of raw food', 'food storage', 'handling of raw food and ready-to-eat', 'cleaning and sterilization', 'waste control', 'pest control', and 'control of establishment and equipment' The highest possible score of this inspection tool is 105 points. Statistical data analysis was completed using the SPSS Package(11.0) for descriptive analysis Kruskal-Wallis. The score for the secondary schools (83.6 points) was higher than for the others and number of in compliance item was 50.9 on average. Therefore, we concluded that the secondary schools' sanitation condition was good. The foodservice establishments acquired HACCP certification was 89.7 points, which was significantly higher than that of establishments not applying foodservices in total score. Instituting the HACCP system in a foodservice is very effective for sanitation management. Many out of the compliance observations were found in the dimensions of 'waste control', 'control of establishment and equipment', and 'supply of raw food' 'Clean condition of refrigerator' item was $65\%$ out of the compliance that was the highest percent in this study. 'Notify and observance of heating/reheating temperature' was $45\%$ out of compliance. Items which were over $30\%$ out of compliance were 'sterilization of knifes and chopping boards in cooking', 'education of workers', 'maintain refrigerator temperature blow $5^{\circ}C$', and 'countermeasure of infection workers' In the results, most of the foodservice establishments were poorly managed in temperature control and cross-contamination. The important control points revealed in this study were preventing contamination, cooking temperature compliance, management of raw food and refrigerator. Therefore foodservice establishments should pay attention to education and training about important control points. The systematic sanitation management monitoring tool developed in this study can be effectively applied for conducting self-inspection and improving the sanitary conditions of their own foodservice operations.

• Korean Journal of Poultry Science
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• v.45 no.3
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• pp.219-228
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• 2018

This study was conducted twice to investigate egg purchase behavior and perception on animal welfare of Korean consumers. This study included women, who were the main decision makers and caretakers in the household, and men with one-person household. This survey was conducted with by the Computer Assisted Web Interview and Gang Survey methods. On the key considerations factor, the highest response rate was considered to be 'price', and the response rate of considering 'packing date' increased in the second survey. At a reasonable price based on 10 eggs, the response rate was the highest at 53.8% and 42.9% in both the first and second surveys and the appropriate price averages were 2,482 won and 2,132 won, respectively. The highest rate of purchase of egg consumers from 'Large Mart' followed by 'Medium sized supermarket' and 'Chain supermarket'. As for the awareness about animal welfare, the recognition ratio (73.5%) was higher in the result of the second survey than the first. The cognitive period of animal welfare was 59.0% before the insecticide egg crisis and 41.0% thereafter. Regarding whether or not they have ever seen an animal welfare certification mark and an animal welfare animal farm certification mark, 59.6% of respondents said that they saw it for the first time and 37.6% answered that they knew the animal welfare certification mark. On the animal welfare system, the 'free-range' response rate was the highest at 85.8%. The 'free-range' fit response decreased by 34.2%p, while the 'barn' and 'European type' fit response increased by 13.2%p and 24.1%p, respectively. The number of 'I have never seen' and 'I have ever eaten' responses to the recognition and eating experience of animal welfare certified eggs decreased while the number of those who answered 'Have ever seen' and 'Have eaten' increased. The answer of purchasing animal welfare certified eggs at department stores, organic farming cooperatives, and internet shopping malls was higher than that of buying conventional eggs. Of the total respondents, 92.0% were willing to purchase an animal welfare egg before the price was offered, but after offering the prices of animal welfare eggs, the intention to purchase was 62.7%, which was about 30%p lower than before. The reason for purchasing an animal welfare certified egg was the highest score of 71.0% for 'I think it is likely to be high in food safety', and 38.1% for 'I think the price is high' for lack of intention to purchase. In the sensory evaluation of animal welfare eggs, egg color and skin texture of conventional eggs were significantly higher than those of certified welfare eggs (P<0.05), and boiled eggs showed that egg whites of animal welfare certified eggs were more (P<0.05). As a result, the results of this study will contribute to the activation of the animal welfare certification system for laying hens by providing basic data on consumer awareness to animal welfare certified farmers.