• Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences
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• v.7 no.2
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• pp.64-69
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• 2004

A bacteriological survey for 20 large grocery stores (M 1 to M20) in Korea was investigated for one year. The average detection rate of Esherichia coli was $22\%$ (166/763) for 7 kinds of ready-to-eat food through the year, where each grocery store and each type of food showed different detection rates. Eleven grocery stores showed lower detection rates, while 9 grocery stores showed a higher than average rate. Especially, M3 showed a rate that was twice as high as the average and one which was 7 times higher than M14, which had the lowest rate of $6\%$ E. coli detection. The detection rate for each type of food was: $38\%$ (41/109) for Kimbop, $31\%$ (34/109) for vegetable salad, $19\%$ (21/109) for bean-curd, $18\%$ (20/109) for the cooked materials used in making Kimbop, $17\%$ (19/109) for Hoe (sliced raw fish) and Sushi (Japanese vinegared rice delicacies), and $11\%$ (12/109) for cooked pork hock. During the summer, the E. coli detection rate averaged $43\%$ (71/166), which was twice as high as other seasons. Most (89/100) of the food contacting surfaces contained more than the critical limit $(1.3\;log_{10}\;CFU/10cm^2)$ of aerobic viable cell counts (AVC). The $log_{10}$ AVC and $log_{10}$ coliform count (CC) of 218 meat samples (beef, pork, and chicken) ranged between 4.6-7.1 CFU/g and 1.9-6.4 CFU/g, except for 41 meat samples $(19\%)$ which were found to contain no coliform. There was a definite correlation between the $log_{10}$ AVC and $log_{10}$ CC, and the values of $log_{10}$ CC made a more accurate straight than the $log_{10}$ AVC, which are variable. From these results, it is suggested that a detection rating of less than 2.1 CFU/g of $log_{10}$ CC (correspond to 5.0 CFU/g of $log_{10}$ AVC) is the critical point of freshness, and a rating of more than 6.3 CFU/g of $log_{10}$ CC (correspond to 7.0 CFU/g of $log_{10}$ AVC) can be considered an initial spoilage point.

• Journal of Food Hygiene and Safety
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• v.39 no.3
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• pp.273-280
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• 2024

In this study, the antibacterial activity and mechanisms of bitter orange extract, a natural antibacterial agent, were investigated, with a focus on its potential application in washing water for controlling Salmonella Typhimurium contamination of salad, a ready-to-eat food. The minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) of bitter orange extract against S. Typhimurium was determined using the broth dilution method. Subsequently, S. Typhimurium was exposed to various concentrations of bitter orange extract (1/16 MIC-2 MIC) and growth curves were measured. Following treatment with bitter orange extract, we investigated its antibacterial mechanism by measuring intracellular reactive oxygen species (ROS) levels, alterations in membrane potential and integrity, and nucleic acid leakage in S. Typhimurium. Additionally, salads artificially contaminated with S. Typhimurium were treated with different concentrations of bitter orange extract using the dipping method for various durations to assess the reduction effect. The MIC of bitter orange extract against S. Typhimurium was 195.313 mg/L, and bacterial growth was completely inhibited at a concentration of 1 MIC. Furthermore, an increase in bitter orange extract concentration correlated with elevated intracellular ROS levels, membrane potential disruption, membrane damage, and nucleic acid release. Importantly, salads treated with bitter orange extract exhibited a significant reduction in S. Typhimurium counts compared to the control, and prolonged treatment times resulted in further reductions in bacterial counts. Bitter orange extract was more effective than sodium hypochlorite and can be used as a safer salad wash. These findings indicate the potential treatment of salads to prevent foodborne illnesses.

• Journal of Food Hygiene and Safety
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• v.28 no.1
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• pp.36-40
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• 2013

This study was performed to determine the ranking foods and related foodborne pathogens for the impact of climate change, e.g., increasing temperature, on microbiological food safety. To do this, we developed an impact-ranking model comprising an Excel spreadsheet by using Risk Ranger. Because of a lack of data, input values in this model were determined on the basis of an expert's opinion. These values also were converted to normal distribution, and the developed model was simulated using @RISK. In conclusion, the 5 superior ranking foods and related foodborne pathogens for climate change impact were as follows: ready-to-eat foods (RTE) (Staphylococcus aureus, Salmonella spp., and Escherichia coli O157:H7); bread and rice cakes (S. aureus and Bacillus cereus); meat and egg products (Salmonella spp., E. coli O157:H7, and S. aureus); tofu (bean curds) and jellies (B. cereus, E. coli O157:H7, and S. aureus); and fish products (S. aureus, Vibrio spp., and E. coli O157:H7).

• Food Engineering Progress
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• v.14 no.1
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• pp.54-59
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• 2010

Instantized thin gruels have been popular to supplement patients who want nutritional, ready-to-eat, and easy-to-use products. In this study, rice-based thin gruels were developed by use of gelatinized rice powder which was manufactured by extrudating rice in a twin-screw extruder. Subsequently, the rice paste from the extruder were dried and ground into fine powder. The gelatinized rice powder was mixed with the powders of various grains, soy beans, nuts, oil seeds, and vegetables to formulate the instantized thin rice gruel with well-balanced nutrients (mixed powder). The mixed powder was granulated to improve reconstitution capability in a fluid bed spray granulator (granulated powder). Lipid and protein contents were higher by 0.9 and 1.9%, respectively, in the granulated powder whereas carbohydrate content was higher by 3.2% in the mixed powder. The calculated dispersibility was 93.7 and 77.0% for the granulated and the mixed powders, respectively. The reconstitution time was 122.3 and 305.3 for the granulated and the mixed powders, respectively. In conclusion, the granulation of the mixed powder improved the dispersibility. This study will be helpful to develop a variety of processed rice products and promote rice process industry.

• Korean Journal of Food Science and Technology
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• v.43 no.4
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• pp.490-494
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• 2011

Although bacterial outbreaks from ready-to-eat foods have increased, little information is available on microbial quality of sprouts in markets. Fifty sprouts and 30 salads were collected from wholesale markets. Total aerobic count (TAC), coliform, Escherichia coli, and some pathogens were detected. TAC for sprouts was 7.95 log CFU/g and 6.70 for salads, indicating that sprouts were more contaminated by 1 log CFU/g than that of salads. The numbers of coliform were 6.69 log CFU/g for sprouts and 5.42 for salads. E. coli was detected in 16 of 50 sprout samples at 2.38 log CFU/g and eight of 30 salads at 2.21 log CFU/g. Bacillus cereus was detected in 29 of 50 sprout samples and 16 of 30 salads, and the counts were mostly <3 log CFU/g. Salmonella, Staphylococcus aureus, Listeria monocytogenes, Campylobacter jejuni, and Clostridium perfringens were not detected. Therefore, although pathogens may not be a high risk for these foods, the high TAC and E. coli contamination require improved production and distribution methods, particularly for sprouts.

• The Korean Journal of Community Living Science
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• v.15 no.3
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• pp.21-28
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• 2004

Marketing of traditional doenjang (a kind of fermented soybean product) is now focusing on its health advantages, being proven to have anti-viral, anti-cancer and anti-oxidant effects. The purpose of this study is to investigate the consumption patterns of traditional doenjang in the households managed by different generations of women living in Gyeonggi area. Six hundred housewives answered the questionnaire. Statistical analyses were performed on 590 subjects using SAS (ver 8.1). Chi-square tests and General Linear Models were used. The age distribution of housewives was as follows: 42.9% were in their 30s; 40.9% were in their 40s; and 16.2% were in their 50s. 57.5% of subjects graduated with high school education while 72.8% of subjects did housework only. Overall, 47.2%, prepared their doenjang themselves, while the remainder purchased it or received it from relatives. This percentage differed however according to age group, as self-preparation of doenjang was found in only 22% of housewives in their 30s, but increased to 83% of subjects in their 50s. 53.4% of subjects had their doenjang donated to them by relatives, compared with only 3.1 % of subjects in their 50s. Most of dishes using doenjang were soups and stews. Those housewives in their 50s made significantly higher use of doenjang in soup, wrapping vegetables (ssamjang), seasoning, and flat cake (jangttok). Doenjang dishes were prepared for the husband in the family 59.2% of the time, followed by housewives 15.4% of the time. Annual consumption of doenjang was 5.1kg. and Kanjang was 4.4L per household; there was no significant difference between the age groups respecting annual consumption. From such results, we may assume a decrease in home-made doenjang among younger generations and an increase in the amount of purchased doenjang. We can predict an increased need for doenjang of better quality. Also the development of new products such as ready-to-eat or fast food variants would better serve the trend towards convenience.

• Journal of Food Hygiene and Safety
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• v.36 no.4
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• pp.324-330
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• 2021

In this study, the microbial levels on mixed vegetable salads, fresh fruits, and frozen fruits distributed in Korea were comparatively analyzed by food group, region, and quarter. Samples were collected from big markets in large cities from 2018 to 2019 and used for microbiological analysis. The levels of aerobic bacteria for mixed vegetable salads, fresh fruits, and frozen fruits were 6.48, 5.07, and 3.78 log CFU/g, respectively. As a result of analyzing the quarterly contamination levels of aerobic bacteria, the first quarter contamination level was 5.12 log CFU/g while the second quarter showed 6.26 log CFU/g, the third quarter 5.73 log CFU/g, and the fourth quarter 4.42 log CFU/g. A higher number of aerobic bacteria was observed in the second and third quarters when the temperature was higher. There was no difference in the number of bacteria by region. The levels of the coliform group were 1.98 - 3.93 log CFU/g in all samples, and Escherichia coli was detected at 1.38 log CFU/g in 3 out of 27 mixed vegetable salads. Since the mixed vegetable salad and fresh fruit used in this study exceeded the standard (3 log CFU/g) for unheated foods and E. coli was detected in three fresh fruits, stricter hygiene management in the manufacturing stage of salads and fresh fruit is required.

• Journal of Environmental Health Sciences
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• v.32 no.4 s.91
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• pp.316-323
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• 2006

This study was performed to assess the microbial contamination level for the processing of sandwich products in the middle of Gyeongnam province from December 2004 to January 2005. A total of 85 samples were collected from 5 sandwich shops. These samples were tested sanitary indication bacteria, such as aerobic Plate count(APC), coliforms, and Escherchia coli and pathogenic bacteria such as Escherichia coli O157:H7, Salmonella spp., Listeria monocytogenes, and Staphylococcus aureus. As a result of APC and coliform count ranged 0-4.59 $log_{10}$ CFU/(ml, g, 100 $cm^2$, hand) and 0-3.86 $log_{10}$ CFU/(ml, g, 100 $cm^2$, hand), respectively. Especially, the highly contaminated items for APC were confirmed 1.64-4.59 $log_{10}$ CFU/g to employees', raw materials and sandwich in all items. Escherichia coli was isolated from 5 samples. Listeria monocytogenes and Staphylococcus aureus were detected in 1 sample and 11 samples from utensil, raw materials and sandwiches, respectively. However, Escherichia coli O157:H7 and Salmonella spp. were not detected in anywhere. For the production of safety sandwich, education of sanitation for employees, control of raw materials, and continuous monitoring for microorganism will be required.

• Food Science and Preservation
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• v.23 no.3
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• pp.422-431
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• 2016

To investigate the causes of the thermal deformations of packaging materials when microwave-heating ready-to-eat sauce products packaged in stand-up pouches, patterns of temperature changes were determined using an infra-red thermal imaging camera, a thermo-sensitive tape, and a fiver-optic thermometer. The temperature distributions of spicy chicken sauce and Indian curry samples in a stand-up pouch were found to be uneven during micrewave heating. A sharp increase in the temperature was detected, especially above the filling layers and in the corners of sealing layers of the package. The temperature measurements using an infra-red thermal imaging camera are restricted to the surface, and therefore might underestimate the actual temperature. Using a thermo-sensitive tape, temperature up to $200^{\circ}C$ were measured in the spicy chicken sauce sample showing package deformation. When the temperature is measured using a fiber-optic thermometer, it is crucial to have precise sensor performance to accurately measure the temperature in a narrow hot-spot area of the package. In this experiment, the fiber-optic thermometer was attached to a GaAs crystal sensor, which obtained more sensitive and accurate temperature measurements than those by a convectional sensor.

• Food Science and Preservation
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• v.20 no.6
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• pp.775-783
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• 2013

Changes in the various quality characteristics of hamburg steak depending on the packaging methods were investigated during storage at $5{\pm}1^{\circ}C$ for up to 15 days. Three packaging treatments including vacuum packaging (VAP), air-containing packaging (AC), and oxygen scavenger packaging (OS) were applied in this experiment. The initial total aerobe bacteria counts were identical at 2.3 log CFU/g in all treatments, but the growth rate of total aerobe bacteria in the AC samples was significantly faster than the VAP and OS samples during storage. The changes in the TBA and VBN values over the storage time showed that lipid oxidation and protein spoilage developed fastest in the AC sample, followed by OS and then VAP samples. The instrumental color and texture profiles were not significantly differ between treatments during storage (p>0.05). After 12 days of storage at $5^{\circ}C$, evaluation of the samples' sensory attributes showed that the AC samples had become unmarketable with a score of less than 5.0 points for all sensory properties, whereas the VAP and OS samples were still marketable.