• Safe Food
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• v.3 no.4
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• pp.26-34
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• 2008

• Safe Food
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• v.4 no.4
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• pp.40-46
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• 2009

• Journal of Food Hygiene and Safety
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• v.30 no.2
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• pp.127-131
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• 2015

This study aimed to calculate the required sample size to monitor food items during risk assessment studies. Based on a data set from a previous study (2,400 data points for heavy metal assessment from 17 food items), the required sample size was estimated by using a single equation with the standard deviation value, error range, and 95%-99% confidence intervals. The required sample size was calculated with each of the heavy metals for the assessment. The results showed that cadmium, lead, and mercury of required sample sizes for further monitoring were range of 7-90, 7-1, 062, and 11-238, respectively. We found that the required sample size varied depending on the standard deviation of the previous monitoring data. This study provides a basic method to determine the minimum sample size required in food monitoring to devise practical sampling strategies.

• Toxicological Research
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• v.30 no.1
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• pp.39-44
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• 2014

Bisphenol A (BPA) is widely used in the production of polycarbonate plastics, epoxy resins, and food and beverage containers. In the present study, we aimed to investigate the relationship between urinary concentrations of BPA and waist circumference in Korean adults. A total of 1,030 Korean adults (mean age, $44.3{\pm}14.6$ years) were enrolled in the study on the integrated exposure to hazardous materials for safety control, conducted by the Ministry of Food and Drug Safety from 2010 to 2012. Abdominal obesity was defined as having a waist circumference of at least 90 cm and 85 cm for men and women, respectively. The participants were divided into 4 groups according to the urinary BPA concentration quartile. Waist circumference was significantly higher among subjects with a urinary BPA concentration in the highest quartile relative to those in the lowest quartile (p = 0.0071). Linear regression analysis revealed a significant positive association between urinary BPA concentrations and body mass index, body fat, after adjusting for potential confounders. Moreover, subjects with urinary BPA concentrations in the fourth quartile were more likely to be obese compared to those with urinary BPA concentrations in the first quartile (odds ratio, 1.938; 95% CI: 1.314~2.857; p for trend = 0.0106). These findings provide evidence for a positive association between urinary BPA concentration and waist circumference in Korean adults.

• Analytical Science and Technology
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• v.29 no.4
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• pp.155-161
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• 2016

Distribution of various illegal or counterfeit drugs of seven approved erectile dysfunction drugs and their analogues has been increased, causing health problems such as cardiovascular disorder, tachycardia, headache, or vision disturbance. We used liquid chromatography-electrospray ionization-tandem mass spectrometry (LC-ESI-MS/MS) to determine the erectile dysfunction drugs and their analogues in various counterfeit drugs. Eleven erectile dysfunction drugs and their analogues were detected, with sildenafil and its analogues being the most counterfeited compounds (73.8 %), followed by tadalafil and its analogues (25.4 %). The limits of detection (LOD) and the limits of quantitation (LOQ) of liquid-type and solid-type negative samples ranged from 0.1 to 3.3 ng/mL or ng/g and from 0.3 to 10.0 ng/mL or ng/g, respectively. The recoveries ranged from 84.3 to 112.3 % and 83.2 to 110.2 %, respectively. The contents of sildenafil and tadalafil in the various counterfeit drugs ranged from 21.0 to 947.5 mg/g and from 0.2 to 170.2 mg/g, respectively.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• v.33 no.2
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• pp.219-227
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• 2023

Lettuce is one of the most consumed vegetables worldwide. However, it has potential risks associated with pathogenic bacterial contamination because it is usually consumed raw. In this study, we investigated the changes in the bacterial community on lettuce (Lactuca sativa L.) in Chungcheong-do, South Korea, and the prevalence of foodborne pathogens on lettuce in different seasons using 16S rRNA gene-based sequencing. Our data revealed that the Shannon diversity index showed the same tendency in term of the number of OTUs, with the index being greatest for summer samples in comparison to other seasons. Moreover, the microbial communities were significantly different between the four seasons. The relative abundance of Actinobacteriota varied according to the season. Family Micrococcaceae was most dominant in all samples except summer, and Rhizobiaceae was predominant in the microbiome of the summer sample. At the genus level, the relative abundance of Bacillus was greatest in spring samples, whereas Pseudomonas was greatest in winter samples. Potential pathogens, such as Staphylococcus and Clostridium, were detected with low relative abundance in all lettuce samples. We also performed metagenome shotgun sequencing analysis on the selected summer and winter samples, which were expected to be contaminated with foodborne pathogens, to support 16S rRNA gene-based sequencing dataset. Moreover, we could detect seasonal biomarkers and microbial association networks of microbiota on lettuce samples. Our results suggest that seasonal characteristics of lettuce microbial communities, which include diverse potential pathogens, can be used as basic data for food safety management to predict and prevent future outbreaks.

• Korean Journal of Human Ecology
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• v.14 no.5
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• pp.871-881
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• 2005

This study examined the children's knowledge and behaviors towards food safety and hygiene. The data were collected from 521 elementary school students in Youngnam region by the self-administered questionnaires. Frequencies and analysis of variance (ANOVA) were conducted by SPSS WINDOWS. The results of the survey were as follows: first, the knowledge level of child towards food safety and hygiene was not that high. Additionally, behavior level was various according to the category of food safety and hygiene. Second, the knowledge and behavior levels for food safety and hygiene were high proportionated to the interest levels for them. Third, there were significant relationships between the knowledge and the behaviors for food safety and hygiene. These results suggest that the education for food safety and hygiene should be performed for the elementary school students to improve the levels of knowledge and behaviors of them.

• Food Science and Industry
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• v.50 no.2
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• pp.98-109
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• 2017

he safety and quality of the food supply are governed by a complex system and food safety management is one of the most important tasks of every government and government agency. Different types of policies have been developed and emplyed to address current and upcoming challegnes. In many counties including South Korea, much effort has been made to reform food safety system including organizational transformation and policy change. Food safety agencies including their history in four countries -U.S., England, Japan, and EU- are reviewd and major policies which have been recently employed by thses four contries are also examined. Additionally, the report of EU food safety and nutiriton in 2050 is introduced and scenarios of future change and policy responses in the report are exmained. Lastly, insight into this issue is given based on review of organizational transformation and major policies in four countries.

• Journal of Food Hygiene and Safety
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• v.28 no.2
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• pp.130-137
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• 2013

In this study, we investigated the applicability of the photostimulated luminescence (PSL), thermoluminescence (TL), electron spin resonance (ESR) and gas chromatography/mass spectrometry (GC/MS) methods for 5 seeds which are not allowed to be irradiated in Korea. All 5 seeds including evening primrose seed, safflower seed, rape seed, sunflower seed and flax seed were analyzed. Samples were irradiated at 1~10 kGy using a $^{60}Co$ gamma-ray irradiator. In PSL study, the photon counts of all the unirradiated samples showed negative (lower than 700). The photon counts of irradiated (1, 5, 10 kGy) samples showed positive (higher than 5,000). In TL analysis, results showed that it is possible to apply TL method to all foods containing minerals. In ESR measurements, the ESR signal (single-line) intensity of irradiated foods was higher than non-irradiated foods. The hydrocarbons 1,7-hexadecadiene ($C_{16:2}$) and 8-heptadecene ($C_{17:1}$) from oleic acid were detected only in the irradiated samples before and after the treatment at doses ${\geq}$ 1 kGy, but they were not detected in non-irradiated samples before and after treatment. These two hydrocarbons could be used as markers to identify irradiated safflower seed, rape seed, Sunflower seed and flax seed. And then, the hydrocarbons 1,7,10-hexadecatriene ($C_{16:3}$) and 6,9-heptadecadiene ($C_{17:2}$) from linoleic acid were detected in the evening primrose seed, safflower seed and sunflower seed. According to the results, PSL, TL and GC/MS methods were successfully applied to detect the irradiated foods. It is concluded that PSL, TL and GC/MS methods are suitable for detection of irradiated samples and a combined method is recommendable for enhancing the reliability of detection results.

• Journal of Food Hygiene and Safety
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• v.26 no.4
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• pp.302-307
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• 2011

One of the most important objectives of post-marketing monitoring of dietary supplements is the early detection of unknown and unexpected adverse events (AEs). Several causality algorithms, such as the Naranjo scale, the RUCAM scale, and the M & V scale are available for the estimation of the likelihood of causation between a product and an AE. Based on the existing algorithms, the Korea Food & Drug Administration has developed a new algorithm tool to reflect the characteristics of dietary supplements in the causality analysis. However, additional work will be required to confirm if the newly developed algorithm tool has reasonable sensitivity and not to generate an unacceptable number of false positives signals.