• Food Science of Animal Resources
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• v.37 no.2
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• pp.297-304
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• 2017

Animal-origin food products pose serious threat to public food safety due to high microbial loads. The microbial and radioactive contaminations in commercial cold duck meat products were evaluated. Ten different lots of commercial samples ($C_1-C_{10}$) were classified based on type and smoking process. All samples were highly contaminated (< 4-7 Log CFU/g) with total aerobic bacteria (TAB), yeasts and molds (Y&M), and 7 samples ($C_1-C_7$) were positive for coliforms. Furthermore, three samples were contaminated with Listeria monocytogenes ($C_4-C_6$) and one with Salmonella typhimurium ($C_6$). No radionuclides ($^{131}I$, $^{137}Cs$, and $^{134}Cs$) were detected in any sample. The results of DEFT (direct epifluorescent filter technique)/APC (aerobic plate count), employed to screen pre-pasteurization treatments of products, indicated that smoked samples were positive showing DEFT/APC ratios higher than 4. Notably, the samples showed a serious threat to microbial safety, thus were irradiated with electron-beam (e-beam). The $D_{10}$ values for S. typhimurium and L. monocytogenes were 0.65 and 0.42 kGy, respectively. E-beam application at 3 and 7 kGy resulted in reduction of initial TAB, Y&M, and coliform populations by 3 and 6 log cycles, respectively. Thus, e-beam was proven to be a good decontamination approach to improve the hygiene of cold duck meat.

• Food Science and Biotechnology
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• v.17 no.6
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• pp.1240-1245
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• 2008

Kimbab is the most popular ready-to-eat (RTE) food in Korea. A rapid detection method based on multiplex PCR technique was developed for detection of major food-borne pathogens like Salmonella spp., Shigella spp., Bacillus cereus, Listeria monocytongenes, and Staphylococcus aureus. Specific bands were obtained as 108 bp (Sau, S. aureus), 284 bp (Sal, S. enterica, S. enteritids, and S. typhmurium), 404 bp (Lmo, L. monocytogenes), 475 bp (Bce, B. cereus), and 600 bp (Shi, S. flexineri and S. sonnei). Visible cell numbers varied from 4.14-5.03, 3.61-4.47, and 4.10-5.11 log CFU/g in randomly collected June, July, and August samples, respectively. Among the 30 kimbab samples obtained 83.3% samples were contaminated and 16.7% samples were free from contamination. The highest rate of contamination was with S. aureus (56.7%) followed by B. cereus (43.3%), Salmonella spp. (36.7%), Shigella spp. (13.3%), and L. monocytogenes (6.7%). The identification of the pathogenic species could be faster using one polymerase chain reaction (PCR) and the ability to test for food-borne pathogenic species in kimbab will save time and increase the ability to assure its quality.

• Journal of Environmental Health Sciences
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• v.32 no.2 s.89
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• pp.186-191
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• 2006

Metal contamination of medicinal herbs is of growing concern because of their potential adverse health effects. In this study, metal exposures were estimated and their potential health risks were preliminarily evaluated using available data including metal contamination levels and consumption estimates of herbal medicine in Korea. Consumption and contamination data of 34 medicinal herbs abundantly used in Oriental medicine in Korea were used in this study. Lead, mercury, arsenic, cadmium, cobalt, and chrome were identified as contaminants of potential health concerns. Even based on a conservative exposure scenario, i.e., consuming 5 times more herbal medicine with 95th percentile contamination levels, health risks associated with herbal medicine consumption were estimated to be minuscule. Herbal consumption was 0.3% of the provisional tolerable daily intake levels recommended by Joint Expert Committee on Food Additives (JECFA) of WHO/FAO. However, it should be noted that there are several important assumptions and uncertainties associated with this evaluation: This study was conducted for only 34 types of medicinal herbs of which consumption and metal contamination data were available. In addition, there are no reliable herbal medicine consumption data among Korean population. The pattern and amount of herbal (medicine) consumption in Korea need to be investigated in order to conduct more refined risk assessment associated with metal contamination in medicinal herbs.

• Journal of Food Hygiene and Safety
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• v.1 no.1
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• pp.57-66
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• 1986

Campylobacter jejuni has been recognized as one of the causes of human gastroenteritis. The feces of a variety of reservoir animals contain c. jejuni as commensals in the intestinal tracts, and are fundamental source of contamination. The intestinal organisms contaminate carcasses, equipment tools hands of the processing line workers and air of the processing facility. Once the contamination happens in the slaughterhouses or the meat processing facilities, it is very difficult to keep the carcasses free from the infection of c. jejuni. Various disinfectants are effective in minimizing the number of Campylobacter infections in the processing facilities by washing contaminated carcasses, tools, and hands. Direct contact with infected animals has been incriminated in transmission of infection caused by C. jejuni. Freezing, cooling with dry air and gamma irradiation are an effective way for preserving the meat and eliminating the transmission, but broad and enforced studies are needed for the practical use.

• Journal of Food Hygiene and Safety
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• v.12 no.1
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• pp.78-82
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• 1997

Surface swab samples from beef (188), pork (240) and chicken (95) carcasses were collected from slaughterhouse in Kangwon and Kyunggi areas from March through July 1996. The samples were examined on the level of E. coli biotype I relevant to fecal contamination due to unsanitary processing control and the existence of verocytotoxin-producing E. coli (VTEC). E. coli biotype I were confirmed from 38.8% of beef, 40.0% of pork, and 69.5% of chicken carcasses. Little variation was noted among three sampling points; rump, flank and neck of beef, ham, belly and jowls of pork. coli O157:H7 was only confirmed from 2 of 188 beef carcasses. E. coli biotype I. All the isolated E. coli O157 showed positive for vero cell cytotoxicity test. Isolation rate of E. coli O157 in summer was higher than in spring. In case of pork and chicken carcasses, E. coli O157 was isolated in summer only.

• Food Science of Animal Resources
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• v.44 no.1
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• pp.19-38
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• 2024

Meat contains high-value protein compounds that might degrade as a result of oxidation and microbial contamination. Additionally, various pathogenic and spoilage microorganisms can grow in meat. Moreover, contamination with pathogenic microorganisms above the infectious dose has caused foodborne illness outbreaks. To decrease the microbial population, traditional meat preservation methods such as thermal treatment and chemical disinfectants are used, but it may have limitations for the maintenance of meat quality or the consumers acceptance. Thus, non-thermal technologies (e.g., high-pressure processing, pulsed electric field, non-thermal plasma, pulsed light, supercritical carbon dioxide technology, ozone, irradiation, ultraviolet light, and ultrasound) have emerged to improve the shelf life and meat safety. Non-thermal technologies are becoming increasingly important because of their advantages in maintaining low temperature, meat nutrition, and short processing time. Especially, pulsed light and pulsed electric field treatment induce few sensory and physiological changes in high fat and protein meat products, making them suitable for the application. Many research results showed that these non-thermal technologies may keep meat fresh and maintain heat-sensitive elements in meat products.

• Journal of Environmental Health Sciences
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• v.27 no.4
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• pp.107-114
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• 2001

The number of covered carts selling snack foods along the streets are increasing in Korea and people enjoy eating foods at these carts. However there are only a few reports on the contamination or sanitary condition of the food carts. This study was performed to investigate the sanitary condition of food and water at the street food carts in the eight major areas of a city. Water and several kinds of food, kimbop(laver rollers) ddeokbokki(stir fried rice cake in hot pepper paste) oemuk(fish cakes) fish cake soup, and soy sauce were collected from four street carts from each of the 8 areas from June to August in 2001 The standard plate counts(SPCs) and coliform groups were examined according to the Food Code of Korea. The nufitness rates of SPCs of the samples were 0~15.6%: 15.6% in kimbop:6.3% in fish cake soup; and 3.1% in water samples SPCs were not detected in some samples. of ddeokbokki, oemuk and soy sauce. The unfitness rates of coliform groups were 0~62.5%; 46.9% in kimbop; 6.3% in ddeokbokki,;22.9% in oemuk 62.5% in fish cake soup; and 3.1% in soy sauce. Coliform groups were not detected in water sample The numbers and unfitness rates of SPCs and coliform groups showed increasing tendencies over time within a day. The higher the air temperature was the more increase of bacteriological growth was observed These results indicate that the level of bacteriological contamination of foods and water in the street carts should be monitored and strict inspection is necessary. There should be legal consequences for serving contaminated food to the public.

• Journal of Food Hygiene and Safety
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• v.26 no.4
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• pp.283-288
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• 2011

We surveyed the sanitary conditions for 17 cold and frozen food storage warehouses in Korea, using the following 5 inspections items: "putting into warehouse (A)", "prevention of cross-contamination (B)", "storage management (C)", "temperature control (D)", and "management of records and documents (E)", We included 20 detailed items. The results of distribution for frequency by five major inspection items showed that "(E)" was the highest, the next "(D)", "(C)"; and "(B)" was the lowest. In the correlation of inspection scores between total scores, "(B)" and "(C)" were highly related to the total score, therefore, the higher score of "(B)" or "(C)", the higher for the total score. In details of inspection items, "the management of cross-contamination upon taking product out of the warehouse" had the lowest score with a mean, of $2.67{\pm}1.80$, and also ranked as first of the 20 items.

• Journal of Environmental Health Sciences
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• v.40 no.2
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• pp.88-97
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• 2014

Objectives: The aim of this study was to evaluate the occurrence of microbiological contamination of kitchen utensils and environments of food service operations at university located in Seoul, Korea. Methods: We collected swab samples from the surfaces of knives, chopping boards, floors, and drains, as well as drinking water and airborne bacteria samples from 20 food service operations. Three bacterial indicators and five food poisoning bacteria were measured quantitatively and qualitatively, respectively. We used selective culture media and the PCR assay targeting 16S rRNA gene for the microbiological analysis. Results: We detected bacterial indicators on knives or chopping boards in eight different food service operations and, three food service operations (I, M, and O) showed more than 3 log colony forming units $(CFU)/100cm^2$ on their knives, significantly higher than the others. The levels of bacterial indicators on the floors and drains in the cooking areas were much higher than those on the cooking utensils. S. aureus was detected on 10 floors and 8 drains. Culturable bacteria were identified in 5 drinking water samples, and food service operation B ($431.1CFU/m^3$) and C ($551.2CFU/m^3$) showed more than $400CFU/m^3$ of total airborne bacteria. Conclusions: These results suggest that some of food service operations in this study may require additional investigation to secure the microbial safety of cooking environments. In addition, further actions including hygiene education for employees and proper guidelines to maintain clean cooking environments should be prepared.

• Journal of Food Hygiene and Safety
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• v.26 no.4
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• pp.330-335
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• 2011

This study was performed to determine the transfer rates of each foodborne pathogen from pork meat packaging during the processing. We analyzed the transfer rate of Listeria monocytogenes from contaminated pork meat to worker's hands (wearing polyethylene gloves, PEG; cotton gloves, CG; and bare hands), cutting boards and knives, and vice versa. Transfer rate of CG 100.00% was higher than that of bare hands 2.513% and PEG 1.511%. In particular, when wearing Co, the transfer rate from the CG to bare hands with CG was 0.08%. Also, the range of transfer rates from contaminated pork meat to cutting board and knife was 0.352-3.791%. In contrast, transfer rates from the workers' hands (with PEG/CG and bare hands) to cutting board, knife, and pork meat ranged from 0.001 to 0.141%. There was a lower transfer rate from workers' hands than from pork meat. These findings indicate that use of PEG could effectively reduce or prevent the cross-contamination compared to CG and provide important information concerning the consecutive transfer of L. monocytogenes during food processing.