• Journal of Food Hygiene and Safety
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• v.18 no.3
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• pp.139-145
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• 2003

The purpose of this study was to investigate the awareness and practice of Korean consumer on food safety. A telephone survey was conducted from 1,040 adults randomly selected from each province and large city of Korea. Therefore, 12.4% of the subjects experienced foodborne illness at least once a year and 0.3% was hospitalized due to the illness. General restaurant (37.2%) and home (21.2%) were the main causative place of foodborne illness, and the most frequently associated foods were meat and meat products (41.7%) and fish and fish products (18.7%). Regarding the causative agent of foodborne illness, the respsondents were aware of Cholera (75.5%), Vibrio gastroenteritis (73%), Shigellosis (65.5%), Bacillary dysentery (65.5%) and Salmonellosis (47.5%) very well; however very few were aware of Listeriosis (9.9%) and brucellosis (8.3%) and ever believed they were not food-related illness. When the survey data were analyzed based on 3 models (Model 1: Knowledge about the pathogens associated food and water, Model 2: The awareness of food safety, Model 3: Attitudes and behavior about foodborne disease prevention and measure) by Multiple regression analysis. The results showed that the awareness of the causative agent of foodborne illness was significantly related with the previous experience of foodborne illness (OR: 1.714) followed by education level (OR: 0.536) and married status (OR: 0.527). The awareness of food safety was significatly related with education level (OR: 0.702). Education (OR: 0.816) and gender (OR:0.650) were the main factors affecting the awareness of the practice to prevent foodborne illness. However, the previous experience of foodborne illness and food safety education, and the awareness of food safety did not show any correlation, suggesting that the experience and awareness of foodborne illness do not affect the real practice of food safety.

• Journal of the Korea Organic Resources Recycling Association
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• v.9 no.1
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• pp.65-72
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• 2001

Four newly isolated bacteria from soil were used to manufacture microbial inoculum to compost food waste. The bacteria, GM103, V25, V31, and V35, were identified as Bacillus licheniformis, B. subtilis, B. stearothermophilius, and B, subtilis, respectively. The bacterial strains were efficient to degrade protein and starch and also able to inhibit the growth of plant pathogenic fungus Rhizopus stronifer. The GM103 showed distinct capability in degrading starch, but grow only aerobically. The other three bacterial strains. V25, V31, and V35, could grow both aerobically as well as anaerobically, in 10%(w/v) salt, at $50^{\circ}C$, and had good viability and survival rate in soil. These characteristics of the bacterial strains are very adquate in Korean food composting containing high concentration of salt, especially at home. By mixing the 4 bacterial culture broth with molasses, beet pulp, zeolite, The bacterial inoculum for food waste composting-BIOTOP-CLEAN-was made. The performance of food waste composting by the BIOTOP-CLEAN was compared with that by control(not treated) and HS(other demestic company's inoculum product for food waste composting). The maximum temperature of the food waste during the composting with the BIOTOP-CLEAN was $50^{\circ}C$, while those of the control and HS were $30^{\circ}C$ and $35^{\circ}C$, respectively. The BIOTOP-CLEAN gave the good smell and showed dark brown color, while the control gave bad smell and HS gave less bad smell. These indicates that the food waste composting by the BIOTOP-CLEAN had been well accomplished. The culture broth of V25, V31, V35 were sparyed to the plants of tomato, chinese cabbage, raddish, red pepper every month and the spraying the culture broth to these plant significantly improved the production yield of the crops, due to the control effect of the bacterial strains against the plant pathogens.

• Korean Journal of Microbiology
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• v.43 no.3
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• pp.186-192
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• 2007

This study was conducted to survey the hygienic status of chicken meats on the microbial levels, which were collected from poultry processing plants located in the local provinces in nationwide including the JeJu island (n=15) in 1997. In particular, Salmonella spp., Campylobacter jejuni, and Listeria monocytogenes, which were retarded as one of the most important entero-pathogens relating to food home illness from poultry, were investigated on their isolation frequency including the other pathogens related on the food-borne illness. A total of 115 processed chickens were submitted on the present study. In general, the bacterial contamination frequency showed more or less lower $(10{\sim}100 cells)$ than those of sold on the retail and super markets and department stores because of lacking of cross-contamination incidences, depending on the total cells, Coliforms and Staphylococcal cells count. While, Salmonella species, Campylobacter jejuni, Listeria monocytogenes, and coagulase positive Staphylococcus aureus isolation frequency of chicken meats from slaughter houses were 58.3%, 37.4%, 43.5%, and 30.4%, in order. But the present microbial isolation data were a little lower levels than those of sold on the retail and super markets and famous department stores in Seoul and GyeongGi province at the same period. It seemed that the cross-contamination problems (including the human, environmental and instrumental factors) during the marketing stage (after the last processing procedure; rinsing step) had the major roles on the increasing of the microbial contamination frequency on the chicken meats after the slaughter houses.