• Journal of Food Hygiene and Safety
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• v.25 no.2
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• pp.133-142
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• 2010

This study was performed to investigate awareness of hand washing, hand washing behavior, and the levels of indicator microorganisms on hands of food handlers who work in the food court and cafeteria of a university campus. The three methods used were questionnaire survey by interview, direct observation in restrooms, and microbiological examination according to the Food Code of Korea. A positive attitude toward hand washing compliance was reported by the responded food handlers; however, improper hand washing and poor hand hygiene of the food handlers were recognized by the unnoticed direct observation. Significant differences were found between the questionnaire survey and the direct observation (p < 0.05) in hand washing compliance after using the toilet, duration of hand washing, use of hand washing agent, washing different parts of the hands, hand-drying method, temperature of water, and method of turning off the water. Samples taken from their hands before work showed higher level of standard plate count, total and fecal coliforms, and Escherichia coli than those taken after washing with water. After washing hands with antiseptic liquid soap, the bacterial populations including Staphylococcus aureus on hands were dramatically reduced. This study indicates that there is a remarkable difference between the food handlers' awareness of hand washing and their hand washing behavior. Poor hand washing compliance and hand hygiene were indicated by the positive results of total and fecal coliforms, E. coli, and S. aureus on hands of some food handlers. The findings of this study suggest that the hand hygiene of the food handlers need to be improved. More training/education on hand washing and hand hygiene of the food handlers should be necessary.

• Journal of Food Hygiene and Safety
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• v.38 no.5
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• pp.390-401
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• 2023

Major components of lac coloring include laccaic acids A, B, C, and E. The Korean Food Additive Code regulates the use of lac coloring and prohibits its use in ten types of food products including natural food products. Since no commercial standards are available for laccaic acids A, B, C, and E, a standard for lac pigment itself was used to separate laccaic acids from the lac pigment molecule. A standard for each laccaic acid was then obtained by fractionation. To obtain pure lac pigment for use in food by High performance Liquid Chromatography Photo Diode Array (PDA), a C8 column yielded the best resolution among various tested columns and mobile phases. A qualitative analytical method using High Performance Liquid Chromatography (HPLC) Tandem Mass(LC-MS/MS) was developed. The conditions for fast and precise sample preparation begin with extraction using methanol and 0.3% ammonium phosphate, followed by concentration. The degree of precision observed for the analyses of ham, tomato juice and Red pepper paste was 0.3-13.1% (Relative Standard Deviation (RSD%)), degree of accuracy was 90.3-122.2% with r²=0.999 or above, and recovery rate was 91.6-114.9%. The limit of detection was 0.01-0.15 ㎍/mL, and the limits of quantitation ranged from 0.02 to 0.47 ㎍/mL. Lac pigment was not detected in 117 food products in the 10 food categories for which the use of lac pigment is banned. Multiple laccaic acids were detected in 105 food products in 6 food categories that are allowed to use lac color. Lac pigment concentrations range from 0.08 to 16.67 ㎍/mL.

• Journal of Food Hygiene and Safety
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• v.35 no.3
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• pp.234-242
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• 2020

In this study, we monitored the raw materials in home-meal replacement (HMR) products, which have shown more than 63% growth in market size for two years. A total of 89 HMR products were purchased and the DNA barcodes of 112 raw materials in the product samples were analyzed. In order to identify the raw material species, a primer set specific for the 16S ribosomal RNA region of each raw material species was amplified. The amplicon was purified and sequenced, and then used to perform a BLAST search provided by the National Institutes of Health (NIH). The species of the raw material was determined by comparing the nucleotide sequences of the species registered in GenBank with identity and match score. Twenty-four species and three genera were identified from 112 raw materials. Three genera were identified at the genus level because a large number of species belonging to the same genus exist within 98% of the identity criteria. The results of the determination were compared with the available raw materials suggested in the Korea Food Code to determine the Korean name and availability of the foods. Six non-listed species were determined to be edible according to information provided by influential domestic and foreign organizations.

• Journal of Food Hygiene and Safety
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• v.33 no.2
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• pp.124-130
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• 2018

The Ministry of Food and Drug Safety (MFDS) is amending its test methods for the use of health functional foods (dietary food supplement), in order to establish regulatory standards and specifications in Korea. In this regard, we continue to pursue and perform our research on the analytical method development for the items being researched and reviewed. In this study, we have developed a sensitive and selective test method that could simultaneously separate and determinate six major bioactive flavonolignans in silymarin, which are based on the use of a liquid chromatographic-tandem mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS). The standard calibration curves presented a linearity effect with the correlation coefficient ($r^2$) > 0.999. The limits of detection (LODs) and limits of quantitation (LOQs) were in the range of $0.3{\sim}9.0{\mu}g/L$ and $0.8{\sim}27.3{\mu}g/L$, respectively. The recovery results ranged between 96.2~98.6% at 3 different concentration levels, and its relative standard deviations (RSDs) were less than 5% as noted in this study. The proposed analytical method was characterized with a noted high resolution of the individual silymarin constituents, and the assay was fully validated as well. Our research can provide a significant scientific evidence that can be useful to amend the silymarin test method for the Health Functional Food Code.

• The Journal of the Convergence on Culture Technology
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• v.10 no.2
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• pp.201-208
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• 2024

In this study, we investigated whether the evacuation time according to the exit installation standards specified in the building code during a food factory fire is compatible with the evacuation time based on the performance-based design specified by the fire department, in order to determine if evacuation safety is ensured. We used the Pathfinder program to confirm the evacuation time, and experimented with three scenarios for exit installation standards towards the outside of the building: 60m, 80m, and 100m. The target building in the experiment corresponded to the building code's exit installation standard of 100m from each dwelling. The experimental results showed tt in the cases of 80m and 100m, ASET exceeded RSET, indicating tt evacuation safety was not ensured, while in the case of 60m, evacuation safety was maintained. Through this study, it was confirmed tt even when the exit installation standards towards the outside of the building are met, evacuation safety may not be guaranteed.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Food Science and Nutrition
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• v.38 no.12
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• pp.1779-1784
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• 2009

Establishment of simultaneous analysis method and monitoring for individually analyzing residual eight ergosterol biosynthesis inhibitors, EBI (difenoconazole, diniconazole, fenarimol, fenbuconazole, hexaconazole, myclobutanil, nuarimol and paclobutrazol) pesticides in commercial agricultural products, were conducted. The simultaneous analysis method for the pesticides was established using a GC/MS/MS for EBI pesticides. Residual amount of those pesticides were investigated in 989 commercial agricultural products (fifteen kinds of cereal grains, vegetables, beans, nuts, fruits and mushrooms) from seven metropolitan cities and eight provinces. In EBI pesticides analysis, linearity of GC/MS/MS analysis was 0.9974-0.9992, and that of recoveries were 86-135% with relative standard deviations (RSD) <20%. The limit of quantification (LOQ) of the method ranged from 0.5 to 5.0 mg/kg for eight EBI pesticides. According to the monitoring of the EBI pesticides in commercial agricultural products, difenoconazole, fenarimol, hexaconazole showed various residual levels (total frequency of 8/989 detection, 0.8%). Paclobutrazole showed in excess levels of the MRLs (maximum residue limits) for pesticides in one chard sample by the Korea Food Code. As a result of exposure assessment on the detected 8 individual pesticides, all pesticides (difenoconazole, fenarimol, hexaconazole, paclobutrazole) were evaluated as safe level in comparison to toxicologically acceptable daily intake.

• Journal of Food Hygiene and Safety
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• v.35 no.2
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• pp.109-117
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• 2020

This study aimed to develop an analytical method for determination of 18 dyes in livestock and fishery products by liquid chromatograph-tandem mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS). The developed method was validated for linearity, accuracy, limit of quantifications (LOQ) and recovery based on the CODEX guideline (CAC/GL-71). Target matrices (beef, pork, chicken, egg, milk, flatfish, eel, and shrimp) were extracted using acetonitrile (containing 1% of acetic acid) and then, purified with C₁₈ and primary secondary amine (PSA). Calibration linearity was obtained (r²>0.98) and LOQs were 0.002 mg/kg in animal products. The recoveries of dyes were ranged from 63 to 112% and relative standard deviations (RSDs, %) were less than 15%. The residues of 18 dyes were investigated in real samples (n=124) collected from retail markets in South Korea. As a result, a total of seven samples showed positive results for target analytes in fish samples. However, there was no violation according to the maximum residue limits set by the Korean Food Code. The proposed method will be used for routine analysis of dye residues in livestock and fishery products.

• Korean Journal of Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences
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• v.56 no.2
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• pp.162-173
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• 2023

Four roe protein isolates (RPIs) from olive flounder Paralichthys olivaceus roes (OFR) were recovered by isoelectric solubilization (pH 11 and 12) and precipitation (pH 4.5 and 5.5) and investigated for their food characteristics. RPIs contained 4.5-9.6% moisture, 64.1-69.5% protein, 16.1-19.8% lipid, and 1.0-3.9% ash. The protein yields of RPIs ranged from 50.1 to 56.8%, which was significantly different depending on the recovery conditions. A difference was observed in the SDS-PAGE protein band (25-100 kDa) between the alkaline solubilization at pH 11 (RPI-1 and 2) and pH 12 (RPI-3 and 4). The major amino acids of RPIs were Leu, Lys, Asp, Glu and Ala and major mineral components were sulfur, sodium, phosphorus, and magnesium, which were significantly different from OFR (P<0.05). Additionally, the lead and cadmium content was below the chemical hazard standard of the Korean food standards code. The Hunter color and whiteness of RPIs also showed significant differences according to the treatment conditions of the ISP process (P<0.05). This suggests that protein isolates recovered from olive flounder roes have high potential as nutritional supplements.

• Journal of Food Hygiene and Safety
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• v.12 no.1
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• pp.26-38
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• 1997

The quality changes of hams and sausages in refrigerated storage were investigated. Seven types of hams and six types of sausages produced in Korea were collected from markets and stored at 1$0^{\circ}C$ according to the Food Code of Korea, and then chemical, microbiological, textural and sensory characteristics were evaluated at 30, 40 and 50 days. The proximal analysis showed considerable variation in fat with less variation in moisture and protein. The pH values of hams and sausages slightly changed with no consistent difference. Water activity values of all samples except one type of sausage were consistent over time in refrigerated storage. No purge losses of hams were observed except two types of samples in the intial stage. Several types of sausages showed purge losses with no consistency and one type of sausage showed consistent purge losses (0.44~11.29%) during the storage. The volatile basic nitrogen (VBN) content of hams and sausages was still within 20 mg% (Standard and Specification of Korea) on the 50th day, although the VBN of all samples significantly increased over time (p<0.05). The thiobarbituric acid (TBA) values of hams and sausages were well below 1.0 during the storage, although the TBA values of all samples significantly increased (p<0.05). However it was noticed that one type of ham and two types of sausages showed TBA values of 0.945, 0.928 and 0.978, respectively. All the standard plate counts (SPCs) of hams during the storage period showed a level below 30 CFU/g except one type of sample with 103 CFU/g at 50 days. All the SPCs of sausages showed a level below 50 CFU/g except one type of sample with 102 CFU/g and two types of samples with 104 CFU/g on the 50th day. Coliform groups were not counted in all samples during the storage. Instrumental texture analysis showed that springiness, cohesiveness, chewiness, gumminess and adhesiveness slightly changed with no consistent difference. The hardness of the hams showed a decreasing tendency, and the hardness of the sausages an increasing tendency with no significant difference. Sensory evaluation for color, flavor, taste, texture and overall acceptability showed decreasing tendencies over time (p<0.05). The scores of the five sensory characteristics maintained the medium level of quality at the termination of the experiment. Although the results indicated that the ham and sausage samples were acceptable after the 50 days' storage at 1$0^{\circ}C$, the shelf-life of the samples should be determined considering the rapid growth of bacteria and the high TBA values at 50 days.

• Korean Journal of Food Science and Technology
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• v.45 no.1
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• pp.25-33
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• 2013

Clenbuterol and ractopamine, which are ${\beta}$-agonists, have been misused as a growth promoting agent in meat producing animals. Clenbuterol was banned for veterinary drug in Korea because of its problems regarding safety. Due to their adverse effects, such as cardiovascular and central nervous diseases on human health proper control and monitoring should be conducted. The existing analytical method of clenbuterol and ractopamine in the Food code was improved through our present study. The bovine muscle samples were subjected to enzymatic hydrolysis, extracted with ethyl acetate and defatted by hexane-methanol partitioning. A molecular imprinted polymer (MIP) solid phase extraction cartridge was used for clean-up and LC-MS/MS was operated in positive multiple reaction monitoring (MRM). Clenbuterol-$d_9$ and ractopamine-$d_3$ were used as an internal standard. The renewed method was validated according to the CODEX guideline. The limits of quantitation for clenbuterol and ractopamine were 0.2 and 0.5 ${\mu}g/kg$, respectively. The mean recoveries ranged in 104.2-113.5% for clenbuterol and in 107.6-118.1% for ractopamine. The improved method was able to save both time and expenses.