• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• v.33 no.1
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• pp.51-60
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• 2023

The foodborne illness is the important public health concerns, and the livestock feces are known to be one of the major reservoirs of foodborne pathogens. Also, it was reported that 45.5% of foodborne illness outbreaks have been associated with the animal products contaminated with the livestock feces. In addition, it has been known that the persistence of a pathogens depends on many potential virulent factors including the various virulent genes. Therefore, the first step to understanding the public health risk of livestock feces is to identify and describe microbial communities and potential virulent genes that contribute to bacterial pathogenicity. We used the whole metagenome shotgun sequencing to evaluate the prevalence of foodborne pathogens and to characterize the virulence associated genes in pig and chicken feces. Our data showed that the relative abundance of potential foodborne pathogens, such as Bacillus cereus was higher in chickens than pigs at the species level while the relative abundance of foodborne pathogens including Campylobacter coli was only detected in pigs. Also, the microbial functional characteristics of livestock feces revealed that the gene families related to "Biofilm formation and quorum sensing" were highly enriched in pigs than chicken. Moreover, the variety of gene families associated with "Resistance to antibiotics and toxic compounds" were detected in both animals. These results will help us to prepare the scientific action plans to improve awareness and understanding of the public health risks of livestock feces.

• Journal of Dairy Science and Biotechnology
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• v.37 no.3
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• pp.187-195
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• 2019

Seeds and leaves of Raphanus raphanistrum subsp. sativus (radish) are known to contain "raphanin," which has the potential to inhibit pathogenesis associated with foodborne pathogenic bacteria and fungi. In this study, ethanol extracts from R. raphanistrum subsp. sativus (radish) powder was evaluated for antimicrobial action against 6 different foodborne pathogenic bacteria. The current study demonstrated the potential of R. raphanistrum subsp. sativus (radish) in inhibiting the growth of Salmonella enteritidis 110, Cronobacter sakazakii KCTC 2949, Bacillus cereus ATCC 10876, and Staphylococcus aureus ATCC 6538. However, these antimicrobial action were not observed against Listeria monocytogenes ATCC 51776 and Escherichia coli 23716. Hence, this study indicates that R. raphanistrum subsp. sativus (radish) could be used as a natural biopreservative with antimicrobial effects for improving food safety, and as a functional food in the commercial food industry.

• Journal of Food Hygiene and Safety
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• v.37 no.3
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• pp.121-128
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• 2022

The rapid development of biotechnology has increased the importance of microorganisms or their genetic information. Thus, the Nagoya Protocol on access to genetic resources and the fair and equitable sharing of benefits arising from their utilization was established, and countries are working to secure industrially and academically useful bioresources to deal with the agreement. In the case of Korea, because 67% of bioresources are imported from abroad, we are required to secure domestic bioresources as well. The number of isolated foodborne illness-causing microorganisms is predicted to invrease based on the incresing number of outbreaks of foodborne illness each year. Consequently, appropriate long-term preservation methods are necessary to secure the isolated microorganisms for the purpose of research and resourcification. Therefore, the long-term preservation methods for bacteria, fungi, viruses, and protozoa were investigated in this study, from domestic and international bioresource banks, and the functions of the cryoprotectants were reviewed and discussed. This review should be informative in the preservation of microorganisms and contribute to the development of biotechnology.

• Nutrition Research and Practice
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• v.15 no.sup1
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• pp.70-78
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• 2021

BACKGROUND/OBJECTIVES: The recent coronavirus disease 2019 pandemic has brought to light issues regarding personal and environmental cleanliness. Individuals may have concerns about cleanliness at food service establishments when they consume food prepared at a restaurant. In Korea, a new restaurant hygienic certificate system was implemented in 2017. The effect of this new system has not been evaluated. SUBJECTS/METHODS: This study investigated consumers' perceptions of these new certificates using the protection motivation theory (PMT). An online survey was conducted to collect data and then exploratory factor analysis, analysis of variance, and multiple regression tests were run. RESULTS: The results of this study indicate that 3 different certificates had significant differences in threat (P < 0.001) and benefit (P < 0.001) perception. However, experience with a foodborne illness from a restaurant did not effect on the PMT variables. In addition, the 3-tier certificate did not motivate consumers to protect themselves against foodborne illnesses, while previous experiences of foodborne illness (P < 0.05), coping (P < 0.001), and benefits (P < 0.01) affected this protection motivation. CONCLUSIONS: This study suggests that consumers were not influenced by different certificate levels regarding their motivation to protect themselves from foodborne illnesses. Therefore, an improved plan should be initiated to clarify the meaning of these certificates. The results of this study can help the application and development of a new system for future adaptations.

• Journal of Food Hygiene and Safety
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• v.35 no.5
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• pp.419-429
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• 2020

The problems caused by foodborne pathogens are not only a concern to the food industry but also with regard to global public health. Over the years, fermentation technology has proved to be one of the cheapest and safest methods for inactivating and controlling pathogenic microorganisms in food. Scientific evidence shows that lactic acid bacteria fermentation exerts significant antimicrobial effect against pathogenic bacteria and viruses. Lactic acid bacteria metabolites such as organic acids, bacteriocins and hydrogen peroxides have adverse effects on foodborne pathogens which lead to their inhibition. These compounds do not only cause physical injuries, but also have significant effects on the pathogens' gene expression. Furthermore, the presence of lactic acid bacteria in food provides nutritional competition among foodborne pathogens, and all these factors together suppress their growth. This study reviews our current knowledge of the antimicrobial abilities of lactic acid bacteria, their molecular mechanisms, and their application for inactivating foodborne pathogens.

• Journal of Food Hygiene and Safety
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• v.35 no.1
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• pp.1-5
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• 2020

Foodborne diseases (FBD) pose significant public health problems and economic losses worldwide. In recent years, emerging foodborne diseases have resulted mainly from novel bacteria, viruses, protozoa, mycotoxins, prions in animal and plant sources. The consumption of unsafe food contaminated with harmful bacteria, viruses, parasites or chemical agents or naturally occurring toxins results in high morbidity and mortality. However, estimating the incidence and burden of FBD is a huge global challenge due to the difficulty in food source attribution to specific pathogenic or chemical hazards, underreported cases, diagnosing how infections are transmitted or when a person is infected are not well understood and thus makes the control of FBD very challenging. Therefore, implementing comprehensive food safety strategies and policies, enhancing surveillance, ensuring resilient health system, and intensifying education and training to ensure safe food and prevent foodborne diseases is everybody's responsibility.

• Korean Journal of Food Science and Technology
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• v.35 no.3
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• pp.429-435
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• 2003

The purpose of this study is to predict multiplication patterns of foodborne pathogens according to packaging methods and storage conditions in home-delivered meals. Pan fried oak mushroom and meat, soy sauce glazed hair tail and roasted dodok which inoculated $10^6\;CFU/g$ of foodborne pathogens were packaged by wrap packaging, top sealing, vacuum packaging and stored at 25, 4 and $-18^{\circ}C$ during 5 days. The result of study was revealed that the growth and multiplication pattern of the inoculated foodborne pathogens was inhibited in chilling and freezing storage after vacuum packaging, and was significantly influenced by storage temperature. The survival of Listeria monocytogenes was also significantly influenced by storage period. The effective method to preserve the bacteriologic safety of pan fried oak mushroom and meat and soy sauce glazed hair tail in home-delivered meals was stored for maximum three days in chilling storage after vacuum packaging.

• Journal of the FoodService Safety
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• v.1 no.1
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• pp.27-35
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• 2020

Salt is a common seasoning agent used in various processed foods, especially in kimchi and salted seafood (jeotgal). This study was conducted to investigate the efficacy of salt with antimicrobial substances (acetic acid, garlic extract, carvacrol, nisin, thymol, and their combination (acetic acid+nisin+thymol)) on improvement of antibacterial effects of salt against foodborne pathogens. Salt (10%) was prepared using six different types of 0.2% natural antimicrobial substances. The antibacterial effect of salt combined with natural antimicrobial substances was evaluated against foodborne pathogens using the broth micro-dilution method and growth curve plotted using absorbance measurements. For the five foodborne pathogens, the minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) and minimum bactericidal concentration (MBC) of salt without antimicrobial substances as control were in the range of 24~>50,000 ㎍/mL and >50,000 ㎍/mL, respectively. Salt with nisin, thymol, or garlic extract showed strong inhibitory effects and their MIC against L. monocytogenes were 49, 12,500, and 24 ㎍/mL, respectively. In particular, salt with nisin showed inhibitory activities against Gram-positive bacteria. However, all the antimicrobial substances were less effective against Gram-negative bacteria such as E. coli O157:H7 and S. Typhimurium than Gram-positive bacteria. These results could be used for the development of salt with natural antimicrobial substances especially targeted against L. monocytogenes. This would enable the lowering of saline concentration while improving the storability of food.

• Journal of Dairy Science and Biotechnology
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• v.39 no.3
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• pp.121-127
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• 2021

Yogurt is produced by bacterial fermentation of milk and contains lactic acid bacteria (LAB), which produce various metabolites such as organic acid, hydrogen peroxide, and bacteriocin. This study aimed to investigate cell-free supernatants (CFS) of LAB isolated from Tibetan yogurt. CFS (TY1, TY2, TY3, TY4, TY5, TY6, and TY7) from selected strains of LAB were co-incubated with four different foodborne pathogenic bacteria, namely E. coli O157:H7, Listeria monocytogenes, Salmonella typhimurium, and Staphylococcus aureus. Inhibition of foodborne pathogenic bacterial growth was not affected in the presence of CFS (pH 6.5). In contrast, CFS without neutralization completely inhibited the growth of the bacteria. Furthermore, when the concentration of CFS (without neutralization) was changed to 1:4 and 1:8, a difference in inhibition was observed between Gram-positive and Gram-negative bacteria. CFS more effectively inhibited the growth of Gram-negative E. coli O157:H7 and S. Typhimurium than Gram-positive L. monocytogenes and S. aureus. These results suggest that organic acids in LAB may inhibit the growth of foodborne pathogenic bacteria, particularly Gram-negative bacteria.

• Journal of Food Hygiene and Safety
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• v.12 no.4
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• pp.340-345
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• 1997

This study was undertaken to evaluate microbial risk degree of some processed foods in Korea. In this study the data on the outbreak of foodborne diseases during recent 18 years (1976-1989, 1993-1996. 8) were analyzed. The most frequently isolated pathogens were Salmonella (36.9%); followed vibrio (22.0%), Staphylococcus (15.7%) and Escherichia coli (13.3%). Outbreak rate of Staphylococcus, Vibrio, E. coli and Salmonella, was 33.0%, 23.5%, 17.5% and 17.1%, respectively. Overall risk degree of pathogens by fatality rate, outbreak rate and pathogen amount for foodborne outbreak was Clostridium, 5, Staphylococcus and Vibrio, 4, Salmonella and E. coli, 3. Based on foodborne pathogens, the risk degree of raw seafoods, raw eggs and processed seafoods were 4, and those of raw meats, Doshiraks and milk products were 3. Also, based on processing characteristics of foods, the risk degree of surimi-based imitation crab was 3. Foods of the highest actual risk degree were raw seafoods and raw eggs (16); followed raw meats (15), surimi-based imitation crab (12), Doshirak (9) and milk products (6).