• Korean Journal of Community Nutrition
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• v.28 no.2
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• pp.141-159
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• 2023

Objectives: This study aimed to determine whether a mobile health (mhealth) intervention is effective in reducing weight and changing dietary behavior among employees with overweight and obesity. The study also investigated whether engagement with the intervention affected its effectiveness. Methods: The intervention involved the use of a dietary coaching app, a wearable device for monitoring physical activity and body composition, and a messenger app for communicating with participants and an intervention manager. A total of 235 employees were recruited for a 12-week intervention from eight workplaces in Korea. Questionnaire surveys, anthropometric measurements, and 24-h dietary recalls were conducted at baseline and after the intervention. Results: After the intervention, significant decreases in the mean body weight, body mass index, body fat percentage, and waist circumference were observed. Furthermore, the consumption frequencies of multigrain rice and legumes significantly increased, whereas those of pork belly, instant noodles, processed meat, carbonated beverages, and fast food significantly decreased compared with those at baseline. The mean dietary intake of energy and most nutrients also decreased after the intervention. When the participants were categorized into three groups according to their engagement level, significant differences in anthropometric data, dietary behaviors, and energy intake were observed following the intervention, although there were no differences at baseline, indicating that higher engagement level led to greater improvements in weight loss and dietary behavior. Conclusions: The intervention had positive effects on weight loss and dietary behavior changes, particularly among employees with higher engagement levels. These results indicate the importance of increasing the level of engagement in the intervention to enhance its effectiveness. The mhealth intervention is a promising model for health promotion for busy workers with limited time.

• Nutrition Research and Practice
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• v.7 no.1
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• pp.59-65
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• 2013

Excessive sodium intake leading to hypertension, stroke, and stomach cancer is mainly caused by excess use of salt in cooking. This study was performed to estimate the salt content in school meals and to compare differences in perceptions related to sodium intake between students and staffs working for school meal service. We collected 382 dishes for food from 24 schools (9 elementary, 7 middle, 8 high schools) in Gyeonggi-do and salt content was calculated from salinity and weight of individual food. The average salt content from elementary, middle, and high school meals were 2.44 g, 3.96 g, and 5.87 g, respectively. The amount of salt provided from the school lunch alone was over 80% of the recommended daily salt intake by WHO. Noodles, stews, sauces, and soups were major sources of salt intake at dish group level, while the most salty dishes were sauces, kimchies, and stir-fried foods. Dietary knowledge and attitude related to sodium intake and consumption frequency of the salty dishes were surveyed with questionnaire in 798 students and 256 staffs working for school meal service. Compared with the staffs, the students perceived school meals salty and the proportions of students who thought school meals were salty increased with going up from elementary to high schools (P < 0.001). Among the students, middle and high school students showed significant propensity for the preference to one-dish meal, processed foods, eating much broth and dipping sauce or seasoning compared with the elementary students, although they had higher nutrition knowledge scores. These results proposed that monitoring salt content of school meals and consideration on the contents and education methods in school are needed to lower sodium intake.

• Korean Journal of Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences
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• v.55 no.2
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• pp.218-223
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• 2022

Cholesterol is an essential component for maintaining health; however, excessive consumption can lead to diseases. Thus, continuous monitoring of cholesterol content is important in food research. The cholesterol analysis method used in Korea follows the Korean Food Standards Codex. As this method uses gas chromatography, derivatization of the sample is required, and analysis time is more than 30 min. Kim developed a new method using liquid chromatography; however saponification by the non-heat saponification method is insufficient. To address these limitations, a new cholesterol analysis method was developed and verified. The correlation coefficients for the cholesterol standard (STD) were maintained above 0.99. The limit of detection and limit of quantitation of cholesterol STD were 2.41 ㎍/mL and 7.31 ㎍/mL, respectively. The accuracies for cholesterol were 92.21-99.02%. The developed analytical method was also verified using three standard reference materials, and their accuracies were 93.71-97.09%. In addition, the cholesterol content of fishes was analyzed, and the values were compared with those recorded by the United States Department of Agriculture. Our results suggest that this method could be used as a new analytical method for cholesterol in seafood.

• Korean Journal of Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences
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• v.57 no.4
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• pp.321-326
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• 2024

This study analyzed domoic acid (DA), the causative agent of amnesic shellfish poisoning (ASP), in shellfish produced in Jinhae Bay, Korea. From January 2018 to December 2020, samples were collected at least once a month from 10 sites in Jinhae bay. This included 170 mussels Mytilus galloprovincialis and 241 oysters Crassostrea gigas. Domoic acid was detected in some samples in collected 2018 and 2019; however, all levels were significantly below the regulatory level of 20 mg/g. Domoic acid was not detected until 2020.Moreover, the detection trend of domoic acid did not show a clear correlation with the shellfish species or season. Calculation of body exposure to domoic acid through shellfish consumption showed that it was below the health-based guidance values in all cases. These results can be used as basic data on domoic acid in shellfish produced in shellfish growing areas and as policy data for the supply of safe seafood. In addition, considering the possibility of changes in marine biotoxins due to changes in aquatic environments, continuous monitoring is necessary.

• Journal of Food Hygiene and Safety
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• v.34 no.5
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• pp.502-507
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• 2019

Cephalopods are one of the most important fishery resources in the world because of their desirable taste and nutritional value. In south Korea, one of the countries in which a large amount of seafood is consumed, cephalopods (e.g., octopus, squid, and cuttlefish) have an annual consumption rate of over 400,000 metric tons. In this study, octopus and squid products (n=28) sold on the market were monitored by analyzing sequences of DNA barcode markers (cytochrome c oxidase subunit I and 16S ribosomal RNA genes). For species identification, the NCBI BLAST database was screened with the sequences and analyzed as a query. In this BLAST search, twelve squid products showed 99-100% sequence identity to Dosidicus gigas (n=3) and Todarodes pacificus (n=9). In the case of the other 16 products that were declared using octopus as raw materials on the labels, six products were identified as Cistopus taiwanicus (n=1), Amphioctopus marginatus (n=1), Scaeurgus unicirrhus (n=1), and Dosidicus gigas (n=3). Monitoring results indicated that a significant percentage (37.5%) of mislabeling was present in octopus products sold on the South Korean market.

• Journal of Food Hygiene and Safety
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• v.24 no.3
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• pp.226-231
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• 2009

The aim of this study was to determine exposure assessment of pathogenic bacteria in edible ices by using the monitoring data from the previous study. According to the results of exposure assessment of edible ices contaminated with S. aureus, the contamination level of S. aureus in raw materials was higher than other foodborne pathogens, and the contamination level of S. aureus in mixed samples increased much before sterilization. The most significant reduction in contamination level was observed in mixed samples after sterilization, thus, the contamination levels in frozen final products was less than that of raw materials. Overall, the possibility for the infection of foodborne bacteria from the intake of edible ices per person per day was ranged from minimum $5.89{\times}10^{-7}$ to maximum $5.01{\tims}10^{-5}$. For more realistic estimates, consumption of edible ices and dose-response model must be studied further.

• Journal of Food Hygiene and Safety
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• v.35 no.6
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• pp.561-566
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• 2020

Nowadays, with increase of seafood consumption, there have been increasing reports of defective seafood products. There have been incidents of red drum (Sciaenops ocellatus) being sold as red seabream (Pagrus major). In this study, we sought to develop and validate species-specific PCRs to differentiate between P. major and S. ocellatus to prevent the sale of S. ocellatus as P. major. Primers for P. major were designed to bind 12s rRNA and those for S. ocellatus were designed to bind 16s rRNA. Multiplex PCR showed a 468 bp amplicon for P. major and a 181 bp amplicon for S. ocellatus. The limit of detection of P. major and S. ocellatus was present at 1 ng each. The developed primers were validated with 19 P. major samples of food items purchased through the internet. Using this monitoring method, the experimental results and tested species were in agreement. Hence, the developed multiplex PCR method is considered reliable to authenticate P. major and S. ocellatus.

• Journal of Food Hygiene and Safety
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• v.39 no.3
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• pp.191-208
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• 2024

The peptide-type hepatotoxins microcystins (MCs) and nodularin (NOD) are secondary metabolites produced by cyanobacteria. MCs and NOD can bioaccumulate in agricultural products through toxin-contaminated water, soil, and manure and can cause human health risks through the consumption of agricultural products. As interest in the contamination of agricultural products by MCs or NOD has recently emerged, occurrence studies based on various analysis methods for agricultural products have been conducted. However, studies on agricultural products are still insufficient compared to research on drinking water and seafood. In addition, research is primarily conducted on agricultural products grown in areas where green algae occur, but not on marketed products. In the present study, we review the physicochemical properties, toxicity, analysis methods, occurrence studies, and management status of MCs and NOD in agricultural products to build a foundation for systematic monitoring and safety management.

• Journal of the Korean Dietetic Association
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• v.30 no.2
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• pp.140-151
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• 2024

This study evaluated the effectiveness of an obesity program developed to solve 'obesity', which was selected as the top priority for urgent improvement among the dietary problems of elementary school students in Busan. The program aimed to practice four health rules every day (sleep early, eat two vegetables with each meal, reduce sugary snacks, and exercise for 30 minutes every day). The participants were trained to practice the four rules online in real time every day for three weeks, and their performance in nutrition education tasks was monitored using Padlet. The anthropometric measurements showed no change in the overall average weight before and after participating in the program, but all students grew in height (z=-6.978, P<0.001), and the number of obese students decreased significantly (z=-3.317, P<0.001). This obesity program was effective in improving height growth and obesity in elementary school students. In terms of dietary changes, after participating in the program, the frequency of vegetable consumption increased significantly (z=-4.849, P<0.001), the frequency of sweet snack consumption decreased significantly (z=-4.298, P<0.001), and the bedtime improved (z=-1.000). Therefore, the non-face-to-face, self-directed obesity program developed in this study is expected to reduce the workload of nutrition teachers carrying a heavy workload such as meal service and nutrition classes, and can be used as an efficient nutrition counseling program.

• Journal of Environmental Health Sciences
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• v.33 no.3
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• pp.180-183
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• 2007

Over the last century the mercury (Hg) concentration in the environment has been increased by human activities with inputs from sources such as atmospheric deposition, urban runoff, and industrial effluents. Mercury can be transformed to methylmercury (MeHg) in anaerobic conditions by sulfate reducing bacteria (SRB) and sediments are the principal location for MeHg production in aquatic environments. Interest in bioaccumulation of Hg and MeHg into lower trophic levels of benthic and pelagic organisms stems from public health concerns as these organisms provide essential links for higher trophic levels of food chains such as fish and larger invertebrates. Fish consumption is the major exposure route of MeHg to humans. Recently, it was reported that blood samples in Korea showed much higher Hg levels (5-8 times) than those in USA and Germany. Although this brings much attention to Hg research in Korea, there are very few studies on Hg biogeochemical cycling and bioaccumulation in aquatic environments. Given the importance of Hg methylation and MeHg transfer through food chains in aquatic environments, it is imperative that studies should be done in much detail looking at the fate, transport, and bioaccumulation of Hg and MeHg in the environment. Moreover, there should be long-term monitoring plans in Korea to evaluate the environmental and health effects of Hg and MeHg.