• Journal of Food Hygiene and Safety
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• v.29 no.4
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• pp.253-259
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• 2014

This study was conducted to investigate survival of Bacillus cereus (B. cereus) on stainless steel and polyvinyl chloride (PVC) and its transfer from two material to lettuce. The stainless steel and PVC were innoculated with B. cereus and stored at 6 combination conditions (temperature : $20^{\circ}C$ and $30^{\circ}C$, relative humidity (RH) : 43%, 69%, and 100%). Although the total numbers of B. cereus at RH 43% and RH 69% were reduced by 3.53-4.00 log CFU/coupon within 24 h regardless of material type, the spore numbers of B. cereus was lasted at 3.0 log CFU/coupon. When two materials were stored at $30^{\circ}C$, RH 100%, the spore numbers of B. cereus was rapidly increased by 3.0 log CFU/coupon. In addition, the reduction rate of B. cereus was decreased in the presence of organic matter. Transfer rate of B. cereus from surface of stainless steel and PVC to lettuce was increased by 10 times in the presence of water on the lettuce surface. As a result of this study, the presence of B. cereus on produce contact surfaces can increase the risk of cross-contamination. Thus, it is important that the packing table and conveyer belt in post harvest facility should be properly washed and sanitized after working to prevent cross-contamination.

• Korean Journal of Community Nutrition
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• v.9 no.5
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• pp.597-605
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• 2004

The purpose of the study was to investigate relationships among food safety training, knowledge, and practices of school food service employees. A questionnaire that identified employees' food safety training experience, knowledge, and practices was developed based on a review of literature. A total of 341 Korean school food service employees participated in the survey; the final usable responses were 293 (a response rate: 86%). Statistical analyses were conducted using SPSS for Windows (version 10). Most of the respondents (> 86%) took training sessions on 'proper hand washing' and 'proper food storage temperatures', whereas less than 60% had training on 'monitoring procedures and corrective actions at critical control points'. The mean score of their food safety knowledge was 8.02 out of 11. The majority of the employees knew correctly 'potentially hazardous foods (93.2%)' and 'diseases and symptoms with which they are excluded from working (87.0%)'; less than 50% chose a correct answer for 'sanitizing food contact surfaces.' A chi-square analysis revealed that the employees' actual knowledge did not differ significantly by whether they had food safety training (at the level of a =0.01), except one topic 'diseases and symptoms with which they are excluded from working.' Their self-reported practice scores were rated as 2.98 - 3.39 based on a 5-point Likert-type scale (1-not at all, 5-always). Employees' food safety training should be conducted continuously and repetitively to improve the effectiveness of the training.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• v.27 no.9
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• pp.1609-1616
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• 2017

The complex roles of cell surface modification in the biofilm formation of Campylobacter jejuni, a major cause of worldwide foodborne diarrheal disease, are poorly understood. In a screen of mutants from random transposon mutagenesis, an insertional mutation in the eptC gene (cj0256) resulted in a significant decrease in C. jejuni NCTC11168 biofilm formation (<20%) on major food contact surfaces, such as polystyrene and borosilicate glass, when compared with wild-type cells (p < 0.05). In C. jejuni strain 81-176, the protein encoded by eptC modified cell surface structures, such as lipid A, the inner core of lipooligosaccharide, and the flagellar rod protein (FlgG), by attaching phosphoethanolamine. To assess the role of eptC in C. jejuni NCTC11168, adherence and motility tests were performed. In adhesion assays with glass surfaces, the eptC mutant exhibited a $0.77log\;CFU/cm^2$ decrease in adherence compared with wild-type cells during the initial 2 h of the assay (p < 0.05). These results support the hypothesis that the modification of cell surface structures by eptC affects the initial adherence in biofilm formation of C. jejuni NCTC11168. In motility tests, the eptC mutant demonstrated reduced motility when compared with wild-type cells, but wild-type cells with the transposon inserted in a gene irrelevant to biofilm formation (cj1111c) also exhibited decreased motility to a similar extent as the eptC mutant. This suggests that although eptC affects motility, it does not significantly affect biofilm formation. This study demonstrates that eptC is essential for initial adherence, and plays a significant role in the biofilm formation of C. jejuni NCTC11168.

• Journal of Environmental Health Sciences
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• v.27 no.1
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• pp.75-82
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• 2001

Microorganisms can attach firmly to food contact surface material and the resitance of adherent bacteria differ markedly from planktonic cells. Therefore, adherent cells are a potential contamination problem to the food preparation because of their high resistance. to sanitation and heat treatment. This study was carried out in order to investigate growth and decontamination of Listeria monocytogenes attached to stainless steel, glass and plastic. Listeria monocytogenes cells could attach to all types of surface at three temperatures after contact times for 24 hrs. The numbers of adherent cells were greater at higher temperatures, but not increased with incubation time. When recovery of adherent cells was investigated, after 24 grs, the numbers of adherent cells were about 10$^{7}$ , 10$^{10}$ , 11$^{11}$ at 4$^{\circ}C$, $25^{\circ}C$, 3$0^{\circ}C$ repectively. Planctonic cells decreased by 2 log cycles after exposure to the domestic sanitizer. Adherent cells showed high resistance to domestic sanitizers and that was dependent upon surface materials studied, being greatest on plastic followed by stainless steel and glass. Adherent cells were more resistant to heat treatment than planktonic cells. When adherent cells were exposed to the temperature of 5$0^{\circ}C$, 55$^{\circ}C$, 57.5$^{\circ}C$ for 10 min, their populations did not decrease significantly. When the temprature increased to 6$0^{\circ}C$, cells attached to all types of surfaces were completely inactivated for 10 min.

• Food Science and Biotechnology
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• v.15 no.2
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• pp.168-172
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• 2006

Soy sauce was fermented at $20^{\circ}C$ for 100 days in onggi containers (ethnic Korean earthenware) which had been fabricated using three different glazing treatments: unglazed, glazed only on the outside, and glazed on both surfaces. The changes in microstructure and permeability characteristics of onggi containers were examined after fermentation of soy sauce. The effect of repeated use of onggi containers on the fermentation was analyzed by the contact between an aqueous model solution and the onggi containers used once for soy sauce fermentation. The levels of reducing sugar and free amino acids produced from the dissolved starch and protein, respectively, in the solution were compared between the new and reused onggi containers. The moisture permeance and gas permeabilities of the onggi jars were progressively reduced with continuing use for soy sauce fermentation, probably due to clogging of micropores by solid materials. After having been used once for fermentation, the microbial cells and/or enzymes immobilized on the surface or in the micropores of the onggi containers seemed to contribute to accelerating the hydrolytic reactions of starch and protein.

• KOREAN JOURNAL OF PACKAGING SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY
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• v.12 no.1
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• pp.13-20
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• 2006

Active packaging is one of the innovative concepts which actively change the condition of the packaged products. Active packaging technique controls the environment inside the packaging in order to extend the shelf life of the product and improve its quality or safety. Active packaging are based on major contents of scavenging concepts, releasing concepts, and other active packaging concepts such as removal or indicating systems. In recent years, experimental developments using active packaging concepts between polymeric packaging materials and the contact surfaces of food products are widely studied in order to make extensive commercial applications. Well-developed packaging markets in USA, Japan, and Europe are already being successfully applied in active packaging concepts. This paper reviews the concepts of active packaging and current information of active packaging technologies. The status of domestic technologies in active packaging were analyzed.

• Food Science of Animal Resources
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• v.33 no.3
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• pp.395-402
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• 2013

Sodium chloride is used to improve various properties of processed meat products, e.g., taste, preservation, water binding capacity, texture, meat batter viscosity, safety, and flavor; however, many studies have shown that sodium chloride increases the resistance of many foodborne pathogens to heat and acid. Listeria monocytogenes has been isolated from various readyto- eat (RTE) meat and dairy products formulated with sodium chloride; therefore, the objective of this paper was to review the effects of sodium chloride on the physiological characteristics of L. monocytogenes. The exposure of L. monocytogenes to sodium chloride may increase biofilm formation on foods or food contact surfaces, virulence gene transcription, invasion of Caco-2 cells, and bacteriocin production, depending on L. monocytogenes strain and serotype as well as sodium chloride concentration. When L. monocytogenes cells were exposed to sodium chloride, their resistance to UV-C irradiation and freezing temperatures increased, but sodium chloride had no effect on their resistance to gamma irradiation. The morphological properties of L. monocytogenes, especially cell elongation and filament formation, also change in response to sodium chloride. These findings indicate that sodium chloride affects various physiological responses of L. monocytogenes and thus, the effect of sodium chloride on L. monocytogenes in RTE meat and dairy products needs to be considered with respect to food safety. Moreover, further studies of microbial risk assessment should be conducted to suggest an appropriate sodium chloride concentration in animal origin foods.

• Food Science and Preservation
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• v.30 no.1
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• pp.42-51
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• 2023

This study aimed to characterize a lytic Salmonella Typhimurium-specific (ST) phage and its biofilm control capability against S. Typhimurium biofilm on polypropylene surface. ST phage was isolated, propagated, and purified from water used in a slaughterhouse. The morphology of ST phage was observed via transmission electron microscopy. Its bactericidal effect was evaluated by determining bacterial concentrations after the phage treatment at various multiplicities of infection (MOIs) of 0.01, 1.0, and 100. Once the biofilm was formed on the polypropylene tube after incubation at 37℃ for 48 h, the phage was treated and its antibiofilm capability was determined using crystal violet staining and plate count method. The phage was isolated and purified at a final concentration of ~11 log PFU/mL. It was identified as a myophage with an icosahedral head (~104 nm) and contractile tail (~90-115 nm). ST phage could significantly decrease S. Typhimurium population by ~2.8 log CFU/mL at an MOI of 100. After incubation for 48 h, biofilm formation on polypropylene surface was confirmed with a bacterial population of ~6.9 log CFU/cm². After 1 h treatment with ST phage, the bacterial population in the biofilm was reduced by 2.8 log CFU/cm². Therefore, these results suggest that lytic ST phage as a promising biofilm control agent for eradicating S. Typhimurium biofilm formed on food contact surfaces.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• v.25 no.11
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• pp.1871-1879
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• 2015

The complex roles of flagella in the pathogenesis of Campylobacter jejuni, a major cause of worldwide foodborne diarrheal disease, are important. Compared with the wild-type, an insertional mutation of the flgA gene (cj0769c) demonstrated significant decrease in the biofilm formation of C. jejuni NCTC11168 on major food contact surfaces, such as polystyrene, stainless steel, and borosilicate glass. The flgA mutant was completely devoid of flagella and non-motile whereas the wild-type displayed the full-length flagella and motility. In addition, the biofilm formation of the wild-type was inversely dependent on the viscosity of the media. These results support that flagellar-mediated motility plays a significant role in the biofilm formation of C. jejuni NCTC11168. Moreover, our adhesion assay suggests that it plays an important role during biofilm maturation after initial attachment. Furthermore, C. jejuni NCTC11168 wild-type formed biofilm with a net-like structure of extracellular fiber-like material, but such a structure was significantly reduced in the biofilm of the flgA mutant. It supports that the extracellular fiber-like material may play a significant role in the biofilm formation of C. jejuni. This study demonstrated that flgA is essential for flagellar biosynthesis and motility, and plays a significant role in the biofilm formation of C. jejuni NCTC11168.

• Journal of Food Hygiene and Safety
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• v.35 no.2
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• pp.195-204
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• 2020

This research was investigated the effects of temperature and time against the formation of biofilms by foodborne pathogens on surfaces of polyethylene and stainless steel. After preliminary experiments with 32 strains from 6 species of foodborne pathogens (Bacillus cereus, Listeria monocytogenes, Staphylococcus aureus, Escherichia coli, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, and Salmonella Typhimurium), one strain from each species with the highest biofilm formation efficiency was selected. All foodborne pathogens showed a tendency toward an increased ability for biofilm formation with increasing temperature, but there was no consistency between the two materials and between foodborne pathogens. At all tested temperatures, the biofilm formation ability of E. coli and P. aeruginosa on the polyethylene surface was higher than that on the stainless steel surface with significant differences. The foodborne pathogens all formed biofilms immediately upon inoculation, and biofilm formation by E. coli, P. aeruginosa, and S. Typhimurium increased on both the polyethylene and stainless steel surfaces at 1 h after inoculation compared to at 0 h. At 7 days after biofilm formation, the other strains except S. aureus showed no difference in survival rates on polyethylene and stainless steel. The ability of these 6 foodborne pathogens to form biofilms showed different trends depending on the type of bacteria and the instrument material, i.e., polyethylene and stainless steel.