• Journal of Food Hygiene and Safety
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• v.22 no.2
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• pp.82-87
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• 2007

This research was performed to investigate chemical and microbiological hazards of Ready-to-eat(RTE) compound foods which uses the by-product of meat. For this experiment, 51 samples of RTE compound foods in by-product of meat distributed in Incheon from January to December 2006 were tested. The contents of heavy metals in the main ingredient of RTE compound foods were in the range of $0.073{\sim}0.112ppm$ for lead (Pb), $0.006{\sim}0.013ppm$ for cadmium (Cd) and $0.746{\sim}0.978ppb$ for mercury (Hg). The concentrations of residual ABS(alkyl benzene sulfate) in the small intestine which is a main ingredient of Gopchang-casserole were $$0.8ppm{\sim}57.6ppm$ (Ave. 10.3ppm). Staphylococcus aureus was isolated from 11 samples (21.6%) among 51 main ingredients of RTE compound foods. The isolation rates of Salmonella spp. and Clostridium perfringens were 2.0% (1/51) and 5.9% (2/51), respectively. By types of main ingredient, the small intestine was showed the highest isolation rate as 35.3% (12/34), ham and the sausage which are main ingredients of the Budae-pot stew were 25% (2/8) and other meat products were 20% (1/5). Food poisoning bacteria was not found in the blood of pig which is a main ingredient of the Sunji-pot stew. 28.4% (27/95) of sauce included in each RTE compound foods were coliform bacteria positive. Pesticide residues were found in four of 45 vegetables which are the additional ingredient of RTE compound foods. The concentrations of pesticide were chlorothalonil 2.8 ppm, EPN 10.3 ppm, chlorpyrifos 0.4ppm and indoxacarb 0.7ppm. In 33 bean sprout samples, captan and carbendazim were not detected.

• Journal of Food Hygiene and Safety
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• v.24 no.3
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• pp.200-203
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• 2009

The risk ranking of food groups included the Korea Food Code is a potentially powerful means to prioritize food safety management strategies. Although the interest in risk ranking of food groups has been increasing worldwide, there was, until recently, no standard system in Korea for the risk ranking of food groups. This study was conducted to rank food groups using theoretically estimated comparative risk scores of 101 food groups included the Korea Food Code. These scores were estimated using the risk evaluation model, which focuses on 3 aspects, namely, exposure assessment, severity assessment, and consumption part. The results of this study revealed that the risk was the highest in the case of ready-to-eat (RTE) food items, followed by fish products and breads. Using this ranking system, we can identify the food with high risk scores and design risk management strategies targeted specifically at these items.

• Food Science of Animal Resources
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• v.41 no.6
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• pp.1036-1048
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• 2021

This study investigated the possible improvement in the antioxidative status and quality characteristics of ready-to-eat (RTE) Samgyetang after adding various black garlic (BG) extracts. The antioxidant activity, total phenolic content (TPC), total flavonoid content (TFC), meat quality indexes, and lipid oxidation rates were measured after receiving one of five different treatments consisting of conventional Samgyetang broth as a negative control, raw garlic (RG) extract as a positive control, BG, oven-dried BG, and maltodextrin-encapsulated BG extract as treatments. Employing retort cooking, fat trimmed carcasses were added to the initially prepared broth together with a phenolic extract that was set at 5% (w/w). A significant intensification of red and yellow color was observed in breast and thigh meat treated with BG extracts, regardless of pretreatment, compared to the negative control and RG. The moisture percentage was affected by the addition of BG extracts, where the encapsulation group retained the highest water content after retorting. In terms of antioxidative status, maltodextrin-encapsulated BG extract was as effective as an oven-dried extract to scavenge free radicals and showed the highest score among samples (p<0.01). The concentration of TFC was found to be the highest and did not differ between encapsulation and oven-dried groups, followed by BG, RG, and the negative control. However, the addition of encapsulated BG extract was the most effective in delaying the formation of malondialdehyde among the samples. Therefore, pre-treatment of BG extract through encapsulation is recommended to develop a higher antioxidative status and quality characteristics of Samgyetang.

• The Korean Journal of Food And Nutrition
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• v.29 no.1
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• pp.87-103
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• 2016

The purpose of this study was to analyze the food-related lifestyle choices of female baby boomers and to investigate variables regarding home meal replacement (HMR) buying behaviors and future needs. This study was conducted on 358 female baby boomers 53 years of age living in Gyeonggi and near Seoul. Out of 420 distributed questionnaires, 358 were returned and used for analysis (response rate: 85.2%). As a result of cluster analysis, three groups were identified based on the food-related lifestyles : a value-seeking group, a convenience-seeking group, and a health-seeking group. Among the three groups, there were significant differences in two socio-demographic characteristics, education level (p<0.05) and regular exercise (p<0.01), and in several health- and food-related habits, type of breakfast (p<0.01), type of dinner (p<0.05), dinner details (p<0.05), frequency of eating out (p<0.05), and eating habits score (p<0.01). The health-seeking group was significantly more likely to purchase ready to cook (RTC) items (59.1%) than were the other groups (p<0.001). However, the ratio of HMR purchasing for the purpose of meal replacement (p<0.05) and an HMR purchasing frequency of more than twice a week (p<0.001) were significantly lower in the health-seeking group. Reasons for selecting HMR showed a similar tendency among groups in taste (26.2%), convenience (18.7%), price (16.9%), safety (15.3%) and type of food (14.3%). However, the satisfaction scores for hygiene and safety reported by the health-seeking group were significantly lower than those reported by the other groups. More than two-thirds of all respondents were willing to purchase HMR in the future, though there were significant differences according to group: convenience-seeking group, 73.1%, health-seeking group, 70.1%, and value-seeking group, 65.7% (p<0.05). Our results suggest that the number of baby boomers purchasing HMR products will continue to grow and baby boomers will want HMR products to be more healthy (52.0%), safe (28.5%) and delicious (13.4%). An emphasis on taste was high in the convenience-seeking group, whereas an emphasis on health was high in the health-seeking and value-seeking groups. In conclusion, this study shows various food-related lifestyles amongst female baby boomers and illustrates the need to develop HMR marketing strategies targeted to these different lifestyles.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• v.14 no.3
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• pp.515-519
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• 2004

Listeria spp. were isolated from a total of 402 naturally contaminated domestic ready-to-eat (RTE) vegetable samples by the conventional Food and Drug Administration protocol and confinned by API-Listeria kit. Also, the susceptibility to 12 antibiotics, polymerase chain reaction (PCR) assay for virulence gene of pathogenic Listeria monocytogenes isolates, and in vitro virulence assay using myeloma and hybridoma cells from murine and human sources were tested. Among the samples, 17 samples (4.2％) were found to be contaminated with Listeria species. Among the 17 strains of Listeria spp. isolates, only 2 strains (11.8％) of L. monocytogenes and 15 strains (88.2％) of L. innocua were identified. Antibiotic susceptibility test showed that the Listeria spp. isolates were very susceptible to the antibiotics tested, except for nalidixic acid. Among 17 strains of Listeria spp., PCR analysis showed that 2 strains of L. monocytogenes isolates proved to have a virulence hly gene, but none of L. innocua had the hly gene. Also, hybridoma Ped-2E9 cells assay showed that only L. monocytogenes isolates killed approximately 95-99％ hybridoma cells after 6 h, but L. innocua isolates had about 0-5％ lethal effect. These results indicate that PCR assay with hly primer or hybridoma Ped-2E9 cells assay could be used as a good monitoring tool or in vitro virulence test for L. monocytogenes.

• Food Engineering Progress
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• v.21 no.2
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• pp.167-173
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• 2017

Purple-fleshed potato powder (PFPP) was investigated to determine optimal mixing ratio with milk powder and dextrin to produce a ready-to-eat mashed potato powder. The rheological characteristics, color, and anthocyanin contents were studied at a different concentration of ingredients. The power-law model was applied to explain the mechanical spectra of mashed potatoes which represented the change in structure induced by different mixing ratios. Mixture design was used to obtain the experimental points used to establish the empirical models to describe the effects of each ingredient on the characteristic of the mashed potato. The results of mechanical spectra showed that both storage and loss moduli (G' and G'') were significantly influenced by PFPP and milk powder concentration. The power law parameters n' and n'' showed higher values for the mashed potato with a lower concentration of PFPP and a higher concentration of milk powder, which showed that the gel networks involved in the mashed potato were weaker. The optimum mixing ratio with the highest redness and anthocyanin content, while maintaining the rheological properties similar to the commercial mashed potato, was determined as PFPP:milk powder:dextrin = 90.49:4.86:4.65 (w/w). The proportions of PFPP and milk powder in the formulation significantly changed the characteristics of mashed potato, whereas no significant effect of dextrin was observed in this formulation.

• Journal of Food Hygiene and Safety
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• v.35 no.5
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• pp.468-476
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• 2020

We aimed to analyze the microbiological quality of the ready-to-eat (RTE) side dishes collected from traditional markets, supermarkets, and cafeterias in Gyeonggi-do in 2019. A total of 108 samples were analyzed for total aerobic bacterial counts, coliforms and foodborne pathogens depending on place of purchase and cooking methods. Results show that Bacillus cereus was detected in 14 (12.9%) out of 108 samples of side dishes, while no other foodborne pathogens were detected. The mean detected level (range) of total aerobic bacteria depending on place of purchase was 5.8 log CFU/g (3.0 to 8.2 log CFU/g) for traditional markets, 4.3 log CFU/g (2.4 to 7.8 log CFU/g) for supermarkets, and 3.80 log CFU/g (0.0 to 6.8 log CFU/g) for cafeterias, indicating that there was a significant (P<0.05) difference in total aerobic bacterial counts among places of purchase. Among the samples, the highest counts of total aerobic bacteria and coliforms were detected in saengchae (raw vegetables), followed by namul (seasoned herbs, vegetables), bokkeum (stir-fried foods), and jorim (foods cooked in soy sauce). The growth of total aerobic bacteria in seasoned soybean sprouts was inhibited when the sprouts were stored at 4℃ up to 24 h, whereas bacteria rapidly grew at 20 and 35℃ after 3 and 6 h, respectively. These results reveal that storage temperature might play a significant role for the microbiological quality of seasoned soybean sprouts when they are sold in markets. Thus, this study suggests that RTE side dishes should be stored at refrigerated temperature when being sold at markets as well as after purchasing to improve their microbiological quality.

• Journal of Food Hygiene and Safety
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• v.28 no.1
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• pp.36-40
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• 2013

This study was performed to determine the ranking foods and related foodborne pathogens for the impact of climate change, e.g., increasing temperature, on microbiological food safety. To do this, we developed an impact-ranking model comprising an Excel spreadsheet by using Risk Ranger. Because of a lack of data, input values in this model were determined on the basis of an expert's opinion. These values also were converted to normal distribution, and the developed model was simulated using @RISK. In conclusion, the 5 superior ranking foods and related foodborne pathogens for climate change impact were as follows: ready-to-eat foods (RTE) (Staphylococcus aureus, Salmonella spp., and Escherichia coli O157:H7); bread and rice cakes (S. aureus and Bacillus cereus); meat and egg products (Salmonella spp., E. coli O157:H7, and S. aureus); tofu (bean curds) and jellies (B. cereus, E. coli O157:H7, and S. aureus); and fish products (S. aureus, Vibrio spp., and E. coli O157:H7).

• KOREAN JOURNAL OF PACKAGING SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY
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• v.21 no.1
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• pp.27-34
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• 2015

Heating patterns depending on the packaging materials were examined in order to investigate the causes of thermal deformation of packages used for ready-to-eat foods for microwave heating due to the non-uniformity of microwaves. Physical properties including tensile strength, heat-resistance and elongation of four different CPP grades were compared. High retortable CPP had higher sealing strength and heat resistance compared to the conventional CPPs. All CPP samples tested were proved to have melting temperatures around $160^{\circ}C$. However, they were all thermally deformed by microwave heating due to a limited penetration of microwave and non-uniform heating within the spicy sauce of high viscosity contained high salt, especially on the above the filling line and sealing edge of pouches. When the laminated stand-up pouches composed of G-PET/PET/PET/CPP and G-PET/PET/NY/CPP were retorted and microwaved, significant deformations were noticed in both samples after retorting. Besides, pouches contained titanium dioxide showed more intense thermal deformation than the control. When the $10{\mu}m$ aluminium foil was affixed on the pouch, small thermal deformation was observed only in the bottom layer. More studies are required to prevent the thermal deformation of packaging materials used for RTE foods during microwave heating by developing the technologies to increase the thermal stability of CPP layer and the modification of packaging design to modify the microwave access into the package.

• Journal of Environmental Health Sciences
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• v.32 no.4 s.91
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• pp.316-323
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• 2006

This study was performed to assess the microbial contamination level for the processing of sandwich products in the middle of Gyeongnam province from December 2004 to January 2005. A total of 85 samples were collected from 5 sandwich shops. These samples were tested sanitary indication bacteria, such as aerobic Plate count(APC), coliforms, and Escherchia coli and pathogenic bacteria such as Escherichia coli O157:H7, Salmonella spp., Listeria monocytogenes, and Staphylococcus aureus. As a result of APC and coliform count ranged 0-4.59 $log_{10}$ CFU/(ml, g, 100 $cm^2$, hand) and 0-3.86 $log_{10}$ CFU/(ml, g, 100 $cm^2$, hand), respectively. Especially, the highly contaminated items for APC were confirmed 1.64-4.59 $log_{10}$ CFU/g to employees', raw materials and sandwich in all items. Escherichia coli was isolated from 5 samples. Listeria monocytogenes and Staphylococcus aureus were detected in 1 sample and 11 samples from utensil, raw materials and sandwiches, respectively. However, Escherichia coli O157:H7 and Salmonella spp. were not detected in anywhere. For the production of safety sandwich, education of sanitation for employees, control of raw materials, and continuous monitoring for microorganism will be required.