• Biomedical Science Letters
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• v.30 no.1
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• pp.24-31
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• 2024

Mercury is a chemical pollutant widely present in the environment. Humans are generally exposed to mercury in the form of organic Hg (methylmercury) through the consumption of seafood. Koreans enjoy eating fish therefore blood mercury concentration is usually higher than in developed countries. By investigating blood mercury concentration according to the frequency of seafood consumption and sociodemographic factors, we aimed to identify recent trends in blood mercury concentration in Korean adults. This study was conducted using KoNEHS cycle 4 (2018~2020) from the National Institute Environmental Research Survey. The geometric mean concentration of blood mercury of the subjects was 2.959 (±1.018) ㎍/L, which was significantly higher in men than in women. It was observed that as the frequency of fish and shellfish consumption increased, the blood mercury concentration increased. In adjusted logistic regression, fish consumption was associated with 36.7% increased risk of blood mercury levels [Odds ratio, 1.367; 95% confidence interval (CI), 1.246~1.500], and shellfish consumption was associated with 26.5% increased risk of blood mercury levels [Odds ratio, 1.265; 95% confidence interval (CI), 1.134~1.410]. Blood mercury concentration was also found to increase as the socioeconomic level increased. In conclusion, the geometric mean concentration of blood mercury was increased compared to the one in the 3rd KoNEHS (2015~2017) and seafood consumption and socioeconomic level were still significantly associated with increasing blood mercury concentration in Korea. Therefore, it is necessary to encourage healthy seafood consumption habits and conduct continuous monitoring considering various factors to reduce blood mercury levels.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Food Culture
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• v.37 no.1
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• pp.26-38
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• 2022

This study used the big data method to analyze the chronological frequency of seafood appearance and variety mentioned by the veritable records of the Joseon dynasty. The findings will be used as a basis for Joseon Period's food cultural research. The web-crawling method was used to digitally scrap from the veritable records of the Joseon dynasty of Joseon's first to the twenty-seventh king. A total of 9,536 cases indicated the appearance of seafood out of the 384,582 articles. Seafood were termed "seafood" as a collective noun 107 times (1.12%), 27 types of fish 8,372 times (87.79%), 3 types of mollusca (1.28%), 18 types of shellfish 213 times (2.23%), 6 types of crustacean 188 times (1.97%), 9 types of seaweed 534 times (5.60%). Fish appeared most frequently out of all the recorded seafood. Sea fish appeared more frequently than the freshwater fish. Kings that showed the most Strong Interest Inventory (SII) were: Sungjong from the 15^thcentury, Sehjo from the 15^th, Youngjo from the 18^th, Sehjong from the 15^th, and Jungjo from the 18^th respectively. Kings of Chosen were most interested in seafood in the 15^th and 18^th centuries.

• Journal of the Korean Home Economics Association
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• v.29 no.2
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• pp.65-75
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• 1991

A Survey was conducted to identify patrcis' eating behavior at the buffet styled restaurant during dinner time. The average frequency of taking food was 4.1±0.9 and this was statistically significant by age group. The frequency of taking food after satiety was 1.2±0.8. From the menu, 15 seafood items were the most popular which were chosen more than twice. The average of consumed food items was 24.9±8.9 out of 198. The average seafood items which were chosen by each individual was 5.8, desert items was 4.5, salad items with dressing was 4.2. The total weight of the consumed food was 954±365.1g. Mostly gruel, soup and saled chosen the first time. Alcholic beverages and drinks were chosen also first time. Seafood was chosen the 1.2 times and meat was chosen the first, second, and third time. Rice and soup. bread and noodles were chosen the second and third time. Desert was chosen the third time. The consumption of calories and nutrients were compared with the Korean Recommended Dietary Allowances. The average consumption of calories was 49.6% Korean RDAs, protein 71.4%, vitamin A 65.0%, thiamin 74.3%, riboflavin 71.8%, niacin 89.8%, ascorbic acid 72.7%, iron 68.1%, and calcium 108.3%. In one meal, the data shows over eating. The caloric consumption of desert was 275.5Kcal and seafood was 174.1Kcal. The protein consumption of seafood was 23.5g and meat was 7.5g. According to this research, customers have a lot of good chances to be exposed to the variety of food. This is desirable to correct the food habits with a experience. On the other hand, excessive food consumption is a problem. Therefore we suggest the provision of nutrition information about desirable order of eating a meal and the health problems due to overeating. We expect other research of nutritional evaluation in a meal in the different foodservice systems to be made in the future.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Food Science and Nutrition
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• v.29 no.6
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• pp.1162-1168
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• 2000

This study was designed to determine the seafood prcference of the 480 elcmentaty school children in Pusan. The survey was conducted from February 8 to February 22 in 2000. The correlation between nutrition knowledge and dietary attitude is highly significant. However there were no differences in nutrition knowledge and dietary attitude berween male and frmale students. Children's prefercnce is high in laver, crab, common squid, mackerel, hair tail, shrimp, but is low in oyster, warty sea squirt and salt-fermented seafood. The factors affected on the intake frequcncy of seafood and preference were dietary attitude of the children, cducation level of the mother and recommendation of the mother. Children's opinion on the intake of seafood was influenced by their nutrition knowledge and dietary attitude and the recommendation of the mother. Eating frequcncies of the seafood were not influenced by sex, family type, monthly food expenditure and dietary attitude of the mother.

• Safety and Health at Work
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• v.13 no.2
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• pp.170-179
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• 2022

Background: The vulnerability of international migrant workers is on the rise, affecting the frequency of occupational accidents at workplaces worldwide. If migrant workers are managed in the same way as native workers, the consequences on safety assurance and risk management will be significant. This study aimed to develop the vulnerability factor model for migrant workers in seafood processing industries because of significant risk-laden labor of Thailand, which could be a solution to control the risk effectively. Methods: A total of 569 migrant workers were surveyed (432 Burmese and 137 Cambodian), beginning with 40 initial vulnerability factors identified in the questionnaire established from experts. The data were analyzed through descriptive analysis; exploratory factor analysis (EFA) and confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) were used to ascertain the model. Results: The result of content validity >0.67 and the Cronbach's alpha of 0.957 specified the high reliability of 40 factors. The EFA indicated a total variance of 65.49%. The final CFA validated the model and had an empirical fitting; chi-square = 85.34, Adjust Goodness-of-Fit Index = 0.96, and root mean square error of approximation = 0.016. The structure concluded with three dimensions and 18 factors. Dimension 1 of the structure, "multicultural safety operation," contained 12 factors; Dimension 2, "wellbeing," contained four factors; and Dimension 3, "communication technology," contained two factors. Conclusion: The vulnerability factor structure developed in this study included three dimensions and 18 factors that were significantly empirical. The knowledge enhanced safety management in the context of vulnerability factor structure for migrant workers at the workplace.

• Journal of Food Hygiene and Safety
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• v.10 no.2
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• pp.73-79
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• 1995

Incidents of seafood and massive fish kills have been rapidly increasing in both frequency and geographical distribution and the socioeconomic impacts brought by those incidents. However, the biological origins of those marine toxins have not been well clarified. Most of the marine organisms investigated are filter-feeder, which accumulate toxins from their food and/or their symbiotic microalgae. We have examined the action on rabbit platelets of marine toxins isolated from cultured dinoflagellates and sponge collected at Okinawa. Maitotoxin (MTX) is a water-soluble toxin isolated from the cultured dinoflagellate Gambierdiscus toxicus which causes a seafood poisoning in tropical regions. Zooxanthellatoxin A (ZT-A) was isolated from exteracts of cultured symbiotic dinoflagellate Symbiodinium sp. (socalled zooxanthella) from flatworms of the genus Amphiscolops collected at Okinawan marine sponge Theonella sp. MTX caused a disaggregation and a dissolution of large aggregates. ZT-A caused a dissolution of small aggregates followed by a increment of light tranmission. TZ-A caused an initial and transient shape change followed by a sustained aggregation and a increment of large aggregates. In conclusion, marine toxins exert unique patterns on the light trasmission and the size of aggregates in rabbit platelets by their concentrations and kinds

• Journal of the Korean Society of Food Culture
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• v.37 no.4
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• pp.300-309
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• 2022

This study analyzed food poisoning articles in the Joseonwangjosillok to acquire historical evidence. The study method used case studies from the textual content of the Joseonwangjosillok. In all, there were fifteen cases of food poisoning in spring (60%), four cases in summer (16%), five cases in fall (20%), and 1 case during winter (4%). Most cases of food poisoning occurred during spring, followed by fall, then summer, and the least during winter. Foods that caused poisoning were as follows: twelve cases of seafood (48%), three cases of vegetables (12%), two cases of meat (8%), and eight cases of poisonous food (32%). Maximum cases pertained to seafood poisoning, which also spiked during spring. This could be attributed to the increased number of planktons as the sea temperature rose during spring. Due to the increased plankton, shellfish absorbed more toxins. The consumption of increasingly toxic shellfish resulted in more cases of food poisoning. The food poisoning frequency was the most severe during the 18th century, followed sequentially by the 15th, 16th, and 17th centuries, and was the least severe during the 19th century. Joseonwangjosillok showed that food poisoning cases happened most during social events where many guests or family members gathered to eat.

• Journal of Environmental Health Sciences
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• v.44 no.4
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• pp.348-359
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• 2018

Objectives: The purpose of this study was to investigate the relationship between frequency of alcohol drinking and blood mercury concentration in Korea. Methods: This was a cross-sectional study that used data from the Korean National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey. Among them, 3,174 persons were selected for the final study. Results: The concentration of mercury in the blood increased as the frequency of drinking soju or beer increased. Similarly, in the multiple-linear regression analysis model, the frequency of soju drinking was identified as an independent variable showing a statistically significant positive linearity (p<0.001). After controlling for confounding factors, comparing those drinking 'more than twice a week' with those who almost do not drink alcohol, the adjusted ORs for exposure to high concentrations of mercury were 3.24 (95% CI, 2.10-4.99) for drinking soju and 2.07 (95% CI, 1.33-3.22) for drinking beer. The interaction effect between 'soju drinking' and 'spicy pollack and seafood stew' was not statistically significant (p=0.098) for evaluating the interaction effect between the two variables. Conclusions: The concentration of mercury in the blood increased as the frequency of drinking of soju or beer increased. The higher the frequency of alcohol drinking, the more likely is the blood mercury to be included in the high-concentration group. The results of this study can be used as important scientific evidence for the field of environmental health related to alcohol drinking and blood heavy metal exposure in Korea.

• Korean Journal of Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences
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• v.52 no.5
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• pp.468-473
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• 2019

A $2{\times}4$ factorial feeding trial was conducted to examine the effect of feed type and feeding frequency on the performance of sub-adult starry flounder Platichthys stellatus. Two feed types, sinking pellets (SP) and floating pellets (FP), were given to 480 fish housed in tanks. Triplicate groups of fish were fed each feed type at one of four feeding frequencies (one meal every two days, one meal per day, two meals per day, and three meals per day) for nine weeks. Weight gain (WG) and specific growth rate (SGR) of fish were affected by feeding frequency. However, WG and SGR were the same in fish fed SP at two and three meals per day; similarly, there was no difference in WG or SGR of fish fed FP at one meal, two meals, or three meals per day. Feed utilization of fish was affected by both feed type and feeding frequency. These findings suggest that two meals per day of the SP or one meal per day of FP are sufficient for optimum growth performance of sub-adult starry flounder.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Food Culture
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• v.35 no.1
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• pp.97-106
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• 2020

This study aimed to evaluate dietary behaviors and food allergy status of preschool children in Gwangsan-gu, Gwangju Metropolitan city. The survey included 592 preschool children aged 1-5 years old in 31 childcare facilities. General characteristics, feeding type, complementary feeding, food allergy, dietary behaviors based on the NQ-P questionnaire, and dietary habits of their family were considered. Exclusively breast-fed children was 32.2% of the subjects and the breast feeding duration was 6.5 months. Subjects who had complementary feeding within 6 months was 77.2% and starting time of complementary feeding was 6.1 months. Fifteen percent of the subjects had food allergies and foods that induced allergy were instant foods, eggs, milk and dairy products, nuts, seafood. Food allergy was not related to breast feeding nor complementary feeding. The NQ-P score and its 3 factors including 'balance', 'moderation', and 'environment' were 59.9, 61.1, 56.0, 62.6, respectively. There were positive relations between children's dietary behaviors and family dietary habits such as breakfast eating frequency and meal regularity. As age of children increased, instant food intake increased and breakfast eating frequency decreased. Proper nutrition education is needed to children, their parents, and their care givers at childcare facilities to improve children's dietary behavior and health.