• Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences
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• v.14 no.3
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• pp.423-431
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• 2001

Animals are one of the important memberships of the food chain. The low-efficiency rule of nutrient transfer from one member to the next in the food chain determines the low efficiency of animal agriculture for human food. On the average, about 20% feed proteins and 15% feed energy can be converted into edible nutrients for humans. The rest proportion of feed nutrients is exposed to the environment. Environmental pollution, therefore, is inevitable as animal agriculture grows intensively and extensively. The over-loading of the environment by nutrients such as nitrogen, phosphorus from animal manure results in soil and water spoilage. The emission of gases like $CH_2$, $CO_2$, $SO_2$, NO, $NO_2$ by animals are one of the contributors for the acidification of the environment and global warming. The inefficient utilization of natural resources and the probable unsafety of animal products to human health are also a critical environmental issue. Improving the conversion efficiency of nutrients in the food chain is the fundamental strategy for solving environmental issues. Specifically in animal agriculture, the strategy includes the improvements of animal genotypes, nutritional and feeding management, animal health, housing systems and waste disposal programs. Animal nutrition science plays a unique and irreplaceable role in the control of nutrient input and output in either products or wastes. Several nutritional methods are proved to be effective in alleviating environmental pollution. A lot of nutritional issues, however, remain to be further researched for the science of animal nutrition to be a strong helper for sustainability of animal agriculture.

• Journal of Environmental Health Sciences
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• v.38 no.5
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• pp.415-423
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• 2012

Objectives: This study was performed in order to evaluate antibiotic resistance and analyze the multiple antibiotic resistance of food-borne pathogens isolated from indoor air and an air cleaner at a lunch room in a child care center. Methods: An antibiotic test of food-borne pathogens, including four Staphylococcus aureus and 23 Bacillus cereus was conducted through the disk diffusion method from Clinical and Laboratory Standard Institute. Results: All Staph. aureus was resistant to Ampicillin and Penicillin, while B. cereus was also resistant to Ampicillin, Cefepime and Penicillin. All isolates showed Vancomycin susceptibility but three out of four Staph. aureus and all B. cereus were resistant to Oxacillin. Staph. aureus and B. cereus presented two or more multiple antibiotic resistances. Conclusions: The results indicated that food-borne pathogens isolated from indoor air and an air cleaner at a lunch room in a child care center showed multiple antibiotic resistances. The repeated control of indoor environment quality is required and continuous surveillance of antibiotic resistant strains is demanded.

• Journal of Korean Academy of Nursing
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• v.49 no.3
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• pp.254-262
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• 2019

Purpose: This study aimed to explore the environmental factors affecting childhood obesity using photovoice from the perspectives of students, parents, and teachers in the community. Methods: Six school students, seven parents, and seven school teachers completed an assignment requiring them to take 24 pictures and participate in group discussions. After training session, the participants were asked to take pictures associated with food and physical activity environments related to childhood obesity at home, school, and within their communities for two weeks and to submit the pictures with records. Each group had four sessions for discussion. Results: School cafeteria, convenience stores near schools, instant food and fast food joints, food delivery, and high-calorie snacks comprised the food environmental factors. Lack of physical activity classes at school, commuting by car, barriers to physical activity, and use of smart-phone were environmental factors that inhibited physical activity. Conclusion: To reduce childhood obesity, the creation of a supportive environment for encouraging the consumption of healthy foods and enhancing physical activity should be considered. Modifications of and improvement to the obesogenic environment might be a good strategy to prevent and reduce childhood obesity.

• Journal of Food Hygiene and Safety
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• v.36 no.4
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• pp.342-346
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• 2021

Cold brew coffee extracted from cold water for a long time has drawn public concern over hygiene. This study was carried out to investigate the microbiological contamination levels and caffeine contents in cold brew coffee. A total of 75 cold brew coffees were purchased from offline and online sources. As a result, the average number of bacteria in samples purchased online was 1.14 log CFU/mL (0-6.57 log CFU/mL), while bacteria were not detected in samples purchased offline. Therefore, stricter surveys are required to avoid the food contamination. However, Esherichia coli and nine types of foodborne pathogens were not detected in all samples. The average caffeine content of the samples was 1.6 mg/mL (384 mg/240 mL), so the caffeine almost reached to acceptable daily intake levels (400 mg for adults). However, ten products did not provide any precautions for consumer safety, so improvement of the system is needed. This monitoring data can contribute to the protection of consumer rights and improvement in the safety of cold brew coffee.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• v.20 no.7
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• pp.1107-1113
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• 2010

Because conventional methods for detecting emetic-toxin-producing B. cereus are laborious and costly, various PCR assays, which are easy and cheap, have recently been reported. Therefore, this study estimated and compared the ability of various PCR assays to detect emetic-toxin-producing B. cereus strains isolated in Korea. The PCR assays were performed on 160 B. cereus strains, including 40 emetic-toxin-producing strains. Although the species-specific PCR assays were all shown to be highly specific, the sensitivities varied greatly. The accuracies of the primers were 97.5% (CER), 95.6% (EM1), 96.3% (RE234), 89.4% (CES), and 83.1% (Ces3R/CESR2). Moreover, the CER primer had a higher sensitivity (100%) than all the other primers tested, and a specificity of 96.7%. Thus, the CER primer was shown to be the most effective for screening the emetic-toxin-producing B. cereus strains tested in this study. However, the ability of these PCR assays to identify emetic-toxin-producing B. cereus should also be confirmed using other methods.

• The Korean Journal of Food And Nutrition
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• v.32 no.4
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• pp.328-334
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• 2019

The objective of this study was to analyze proximate composition, dietary fiber, mineral content, fatty acid composition in Cheonggak (Codium fragile) in order to encourage the consumption of Cheonggak. The proximate composition of Cheonggak was found to be 5.51% moisture, 24.09% crude ash, 15.79% crude protein, 2.47% crude lipid and 45.31% dietary fiber. The major mineral content of Cheonggak was Na 8,950 mg/100 g, Mg 1,252 mg/100 g, Ca 807 mg/100 g, K 457 mg/100 g, and trace mineral content was Fe 26 mg/100 g, Mn 8 mg/100 g, Zn 0.4 mg/100 g. Palmitic acid 36.86% and ${\alpha}$-linolenic acid 20.14% were the most contained fatty acids in Cheonggak. The ratio of saturated fatty acids to unsaturated fatty acids was 85.49% while ${\omega}-6$ fatty acids to ${\omega}-3$ fatty acids were 59.10%. Based on the proximate composition, dietary fiber, mineral content, and fatty acid composition, Cheonggak was judged to be a major source of dietary fiber and Mg and Ca, and it was deemed to be helpful in promoting health, including the prevention of hyperlipidemia. Cheonggak contained valuable nutrients similar to seaweed, which is produced and consumed the most in Korea. Thus, it is necessary to include Cheonggak in the food items.

• Journal of Food Hygiene and Safety
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• v.34 no.5
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• pp.447-453
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• 2019

In this study, the contamination of 4 types of heavy metals (lead, cadmium, arsenic, and mercury) was monitored in 80 seaweeds and their processed products, and a food safety assessment was also carried out for these heavy metals. Lead, cadmium and arsenic were analyzed by ICP-OES and mercury was analyzed by mercury analyzer. The detection ranges of heavy metals were found as follows: Pb (N.D-0.802 mg/kg), Cd (N.D-0.759 mg/kg), As (0.134-17.296 mg/kg), and Hg (0.0005-0.0331 mg/kg). Pb and Hg showed no significant differences among seaweeds whereas Cd and As were significantly higher in the species hizikia fusiforme (P<0.05). Food safety assessment from seaweed intake was measured by PTWI (Provisional Tolerable Weekly Intake), PTMI (Provisional Tolerable Monthly Intake), and MADL (Maximum Allowable Daily Body Load) as set by JECFA (Joint FAO/WHO Expert Committee on Food Additives). Pb and Hg were 0.197%, 0.036% of PTWI respectively, while Cd was 1.877% of PTMI and As was 0.619% of MADL. Therefore, it was found that heavy metal levels of seaweed were low and was considered to be safe for consumption.

• Korean Journal of Environmental Agriculture
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• v.38 no.4
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• pp.332-337
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• 2019

BACKGROUND: From year 2005, landfill for food waste has been prohibited. Also, according to London agreement in year 2013, ocean discharge for livestock manure, sewage sludge, and food waste has been regulated. Alternative way for food waste disposal is incineration. However, due to high moisture content, additional input for energy is needed. Therefore, effective way for food waste disposal such as application of food waste compost is needed. METHODS AND RESULTS: Seven different treatments (livestock compost, food waste compost, food waste + livestock compost, livestock compost + chemical fertilizer, food waste compost + chemical fertilizer, food waste + livestock compost + chemical fertilizer and control) were applied to tomato crop. All treatments were replicated with completely randomized design. Tomato growth treated with LC+NPK showed the highest values at 6 weeks for all parameters such as leaf length (11.80 cm), leaf width (6.88 cm), and chlorophyll (61.12 O.D.), compared to other treatments. Subsequently the FWC+LC+NPK treatment was followed (11.51 cm, 6.40 cm, 59.50 O.D. for leaf length, leaf width, and chlorophyll, respectably). EC, OM contents, and CEC in the soil treated with the composts significantly increased. CONCLUSION: To evaluate the effect of food waste compost application on tomato growth and soil chemical properties, we carried out field experiment treated with 7 treatments with 3 replicates. The LC+NPK treatment showed highest values for all parameters. Some parameters such as shoot length and total length for tomato were not significantly different between the LC+NPK and the FWC+LC+NPK treatments.

• Journal of Nutrition and Health
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• v.47 no.5
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• pp.351-363
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• 2014

Purpose: The aim of this study was to develop a reliable measurement tool to assess the urban food environment, particularly focusing on food stores in Korea. Methods: The items for the measurement tool were selected through systematic literature reviews and adjusted to the Korean food environment. A total of 25 food stores in an urban area were recruited for the pilot test to evaluate the time required for completion of the survey, ease of response, willingness to participate, difficulties in conducting the survey, and appropriateness, and 34 food stores were recruited for assessment of the reliability of the tool using percent agreement and kappa value. Results: The measurement tool is composed of questions regarding food store characteristics, accessibility, and food availability. On average, 26 minutes was required to survey a single food store, and the subjects and interviewers answered that the process was not difficult for the survey. The percent agreement for the inter-rater and test-retest reliability ranged from 93.9~98.8% and 91.9~97.9, respectively. The kappa values ranged from 0.78 to 0.97, which was very high. Percent agreement and kappa value of food with healthy option were lower than those of the general food in the inter-rater reliability (p = 0.0027, p = 0.0095 respectively) as well as in the test-retest reliability (p = 0.0081, p = 0.0290, respectively), although they were still high enough (86.4~98.0% for percent agreement, 0.64~0.96 for kappa value). Conclusion: The newly developed measurement tool for assessment of food store environment appears to be feasible and reliable; therefore, it can be applied to research on the association between food environment and dietary behaviors as well as health outcomes.

• Journal of Food Hygiene and Safety
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• v.38 no.3
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• pp.99-111
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• 2023

The purpose of this study was to provide basic data for setting more detailed standards for baby food and to provide food information that can be used in real-world settings. We purchased 80 snacks and 40 drinks for infants and toddlers from supermarkets and online markets and analyzed tar color, artificial sweeteners, mycotoxins, and nutritional components (e.g., sucrose, sodium, and calcium). Fortunately, it was confirmed that both tar color and sodium saccharin, which do not have detection criteria for labeled foods for infants and toddlers, were not detected. However, acesulfame potassium was detected at 0.07 g/kg in one snack sample. As for myxotoxins, aflatoxin (B1, B2, G1, and G2) and ochratoxin A were not detected. Fumonisin B1, fumonisin B2, and zearalenone were detected in the ranges of 9.78-78.94 ㎍/kg, 5.58-11.73 ㎍/kg, and 2.96-8.83 ㎍/kg, respectively, but only in snacks. Sucrose was detected in 65 of the snacks (0.02-40.94 g/net weight [g]) and in 24 of the drinks (0.12-27.60 g/net weight [g]). Minerals were detected in most of the samples, and in four snacks, the zinc content per net exceeded the tolerable upper intake level for infants. Sixteen snacks exceeded the food standards for sodium content for infants and toddlers, but none of them were labeled as food for infants and toddlers in the product manufacturing report, such that the corresponding standards could not be applied. Therefore, it seems necessary to establish institutional improvements, such as strengthening labeling standards, so that the currently enforced standards can be appropriately applied, and establishing standards for labeled foods for infants and toddlers.