• Title/Summary/Keyword: Food safety assessment

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Crossover Food Businesses in Louisiana, United States: A Descriptive Study of Their Characteristics and Food Safety Training Needs From Public Health Inspectors' Perspective

  • Xu, Wenqing;Watts, Evelyn;Bombet, Carolyn;Cater, Melissa
    • Journal of Preventive Medicine and Public Health
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    • v.55 no.3
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    • pp.289-296
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    • 2022
  • Objectives: Integrating retail and manufacturing enables limitless potential for food businesses, but also creates challenges for navigating within complex food safety regulations. From public health inspectors' (PHIs) perspective, this study aimed (1) to describe the characteristics of crossover businesses in Louisiana, and (2) to evaluate regulation awareness and food safety education needs for business owners and PHIs who inspect crossover businesses. Methods: A self-administered questionnaire was administered to Louisiana Department of Health PHIs using Qualtrics®. A descriptive analysis was performed, focusing on the frequency of each item. Results: In total, 1774 retailers were conducting or planned to conduct specialized processes, while 552 food manufacturers were performing or planned to perform retail functions. Reduced oxygen packaging, the use of additives such as vinegar as a method of preservation, and smoking food as a method of preservation were observed by 62%, 36%, and 35% of the PHIs, respectively. The PHIs perceived crossover businesses as "not aware" or "somewhat aware" of the food safety regulations. The current food safety training level for these businesses was reported to range from "no training" to "some training but not sufficient." When asked for a self-assessment, the majority of PHIs reported themselves as being "familiar" with the variance requirement for specialized processing. Their confidence in inspecting crossover businesses, however, leaned towards "not confident" or "somewhat confident." Conclusions: To better guard public health, food safety training is needed for crossover food business owners, as well as PHIs, on regulations and conducting or inspecting specialized processes.

Bioaccumulation of Heavy Metals in the Mussel Mytilus galloprovincialis in the Changseon area, Korea, and Assessment of Potential Risk to Human Health

  • Mok, Jong Soo;Yoo, Hyun Duk;Kim, Poong Ho;Yoon, Ho Dong;Park, Young Cheol;Kim, Ji Hoe;Kwon, Ji Young;Son, Kwang Tae;Lee, Hee Jung;Ha, Kwang Soo;Shim, Kil Bo;Jo, Mi Ra;Lee, Tae Seek
    • Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences
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    • v.17 no.3
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    • pp.313-318
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    • 2014
  • From 2008 to 2013, the mussel Mytilus galloprovincialis were collected from a major area of mussel production (Changseon area), which is a designated shellfish-cultivating area for export, located on the southern coast of Korea. The samples were analyzed for mercury (Hg) using a direct Hg analyzer and for other metals, such as cadmium (Cd), lead (Pb), arsenic (As), chromium, copper, nickel, and zinc, using inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry. The concentrations and bioaccumulation of the heavy metals were determined, and a potential risk assessment was conducted to evaluate their hazards towards human consumption. The concentration and bioaccumulation ratio of Cd were the highest of the three hazardous metals (Cd, Pb, and Hg). The concentrations of hazardous metals in all samples were within the limits set by Korea and other countries. The estimated dietary intake (EDI) was compared to the provisional tolerable daily intake (PTDI) adopted by the Joint FAO/WHO Expert Committee on Food Additives and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. The EDIs of all heavy metals tested for mussel samples ranged from 0.01 to 4.99% of the PTDI; the highest value was measured for As. The hazard index (HI) can be used to assess the risk of heavy metal consumption associated with contaminated food. The HI for all samples was far less than 1.0, which indicates that the mussels produced in the Changseon area do not represent an appreciable hazard to humans and are fit for consumption.

Application of delphi method to the technology level assessment of food safety (델파이기법을 활용한 식품안전 기술수준 진단)

  • Gwon, So Young;Lee, Ye Seul
    • Food Science and Industry
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    • v.51 no.3
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    • pp.209-217
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    • 2018
  • Delphi technique is widely used to develop consensus on group opinion. It is important to identify the strategic technologies and evaluate technology level for the establishment of national R&D policy to upgrade technology level. The aim of this article was to reflect on Food Safety technology level by using Delphi methodology. And, competitiveness of patents and journal articles is evaluated for Korea, USA, Japan, China and EU. As a result, USA is the most competitive country for all technology categories. The average technology level of Korea was 79.5% of world-top coungry and average technological gap was 6.1 years. Korea is grouped in middle-lower class for overall food safety technology level. However, there are some variances among the level of technologies. As a result of this study, food safety research management needs to expand R&D investment and training of food safety specialist. The results of this research can be utilized to establish a road map for transportation R&D and plans.

Trends of Perception and Information Needs on Food Additives of Children and Parents by Analyzing the Safety Assessment Reports of Food Additives in 2008~2013 (어린이와 학부모의 식품첨가물에 대한 인식 및 정보요구도 추이 분석: 2008~2013 식품첨가물 섭취 안전성 평가 연구 결과를 중심으로)

  • Kim, Suna;Kim, Ji-Sun;Ko, Joung-Mi;Kim, Jeong-Weon
    • Korean journal of food and cookery science
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    • v.30 no.3
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    • pp.249-261
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    • 2014
  • This study was performed in order to grasp the trends of elementary school children and their parents on their purchasing behavior of processed foods, awareness of food additives and its education experience by analyzing the safety assessment reports of food additives in 2008~2013. The most important factor in purchasing processed foods was safety in both groups followed by nutrition in parents and taste in children, respectively. While purchasing foods, the first item that is checked has been shifted from food additives to the origin of the products. Parents still perceived food additives as the most hazardous factor for food safety; however, recently, children began to regard microbial contaminants as being most hazardous, which is regarded as a desirable educational effect. The most concerned food additives were preservatives, synthetic seasoning and colorants in both groups. However, the awareness level on food additives still remained low as 3.0~3.1/5.0 for parents and 2.4~2.9/5.0 for children. Educational experience on food additives increased in children from 12% in 2008 to 25% in 2013; however, it decreased in parents from 23% in 2008 to 15% in 2013. Information needs for food additives by education and promotion were very high both in parents (4.2~4.5) and children (3.8~4.1). Both groups had an interest in the safety, legal standards of food additives, and foods with food additives, in order. The most reliable resource institutions on food additives were university/research institute and hospital for parents, but, hospital and government for children. The preferred media on food additives were TV and the internet for parents, and school newsletter and TV for children. Overall, the above results demonstrated that the perceptions on food additives did not change much with parents during the last 6 years; however, children's perceptions began to show improvement with the increase of educational experience. Hence, the government needs to make efforts to increase the trust level of consumers by developing educational tools and providing educational experiences including mass media for the promotion of risk communication on food additives.

Risk Assessment for Identifying Maximum Level of Hazardous Chemicals in Foods (유해물질의 식품기준 설정시 위해평가)

  • Lee, Hyo-Min;Jung, Ki-Hwa
    • Journal of Food Hygiene and Safety
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    • v.23 no.1
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    • pp.80-84
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    • 2008
  • Maximum level of hazardous chemicals in foods can be settled after overall investigation of toxicological database, the representative exposure assessment, risk level on the present exposure level, the need of maximum level establishment, making of maximum level scenario proposed under consumer protection and verification of contamination reduction method and review of application efficiency on maximum level for risk management. The maximum level should be needed when the risk value of specific chemical caused by food ingestion was high and chronic human exposure was predicted continuously unless the maximum level exists. The key role of the risk assessment is to improve the efficiency of the risk management to reduce the present risk level and make the risk management policy scientifically by setting the representative result of the risk assessment.

Safety Assessment of the Deep-fried Instant Noodles (인스탄트 유탕면의 안전성 평가)

  • 김영국;임태곤;오금순;김지인;임현철;박종태;김순천;홍석순
    • Journal of Food Hygiene and Safety
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    • v.10 no.3
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    • pp.155-161
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    • 1995
  • In the study, attempts were made to investigate the safety of the deep-fried instant noodles. A total of 50 deep-fried instant noodles were puchased from a local supermarket. Acid value , peroxide value, preservatives, heavy metals and pesticide residues were determined. Acid value(AV) and peroxide value(POV) of deep-fried instant noodles were lower than the Food Law in force. Any preservatives were not detected in all deep-fried instant noodles. The level of all heavy metals and pesticide residues found in deep-fried instant noodles were fairly low, and pesticide residues in deep-fried instant noodles was almost removed after cooking. It was conclued from these results that deep-fried instant noodles may be no harmful in oxidative stability(AV, POV) and sanitary safety(preservatives, heavy metals and pesticides).

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Analysis on the Sodium Content of Institutional Foodservice in the Seoul/Gyeonggi Region (서울·경기지역 단체급식소 유형별 제공 메뉴의 나트륨 함량 분석)

  • Ha, Hyun-Suk
    • Journal of the FoodService Safety
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    • v.2 no.1
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    • pp.1-9
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    • 2021
  • To determine the sodium content of meals provided by foodservice institution, 540 different menus were collected by their serving portion and categorized into nine food groups and three different foodservice types (office, industry, school). Each were evaluated by each sodium evaluation method. All nine categories of food type showed higher content of sodium than listed in the 'nutrition assessment program (Can-Pro 4.0)', when assessed with a salimeter. From the 9 food types, 6 types, excluding 'Korean pancakes', 'Kimchi/pickled food' and 'a la carte', showed significantly higher sodium content on the salimeter than shown in the 'nutrition assessment program (Can-Pro 4.0)' (p<0.001). Also in assessing sodium content per serving, 'soup and stews' and 'a la carte' menus had significantly higher sodium content than other food types (p<0.001). The results compared by foodservice types showed dishes served in 'Industries' had significantly higher daily sodium content than those served in 'offices' and 'schools'.