• Journal of Food Hygiene and Safety
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• v.23 no.1
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• pp.40-50
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• 2008

Spread of pathogenic micro-organisms through contaminated hands is a well recognized way of transmitting disease such as food poisoning. We investigated the prevalence of aerobic plate counts, coliform bacteria, and food-poisoning bacteria on hands in various age groups. The average number of aerobic plate counts was 3.3 log CFU/hand in kindergarteners, 3.4 log CFU/hand in elementary students, 3.2 log CFU/hand in middle school students, 3.4 log CFU/hand in high school students, and 3.3 log CFU/hand in adults. Two kindergarteners, 6 elementary students, and 2 adults were positive for the coliform bacteria. Among the food poisoning bacteria we tested, S. aureus was isolated from 47 individuals. Eight isolates of B cereus were all from kindergarteners. C. perfringens was isolated from 7 individuals. Among 47 isolates of S. aureus, 25 isolates produced toxins. Seven of eight isolates of B. cereus produced toxins. None of seven C. peifringens isolates produced toxins. All 47 isolates of S. aureus were sensitive to ciprofloxacin, trimethoprim/sulfamethoxazole, clindamyccin, imipenem, rifampin and vancomycin. Four isolates (8.5%) were resistant to cefepime, chloramphenicol, cefotetan, and gentamycin. Five isolates (10.6%) were resistant to oxacillin and 6 isolates were resistant to tetracycline. This study shows that it is needs to be established policy of school lunch and personal sanitation management.

• Horticultural Science & Technology
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• v.32 no.3
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• pp.400-407
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• 2014

Urban farming supplies emotional stability and fresh vegetables to participating persons, however, no information regarding the biosafety of agricultural products from urban farming is available. Here, we collected 260 samples of Chinese cabbages and lettuce from 4 urban community gardens and 6 roof gardens in Seoul from September through October 2012, and monitored the microbiological and parasitological contamination quantitatively and/or qualitatively. The mean counts of total aerobic bacteria and coliforms were $6.1{\pm}0.8\;log\;CFU{\cdot}g^{-1}$ ( range, $5.4{\pm}0.6{\sim}7.1{\pm}0.8\;log\;CFU{\cdot}g^{-1}$) and $4.0{\pm}0.7\;log\;CFU{\cdot}g^{-1}$ (range, $2.3{\pm}0.6{\sim}6.1{\pm}0.9\;log\;CFU{\cdot}g^{-1}$), respectively. Coliforms were detected on 59.6% among 260 vegetable samples. There were no significant differences in the contamination levels of total aerobic bacteria and coliforms between the Chinese cabbages and lettuce, whereas both levels of vegetables from urban community gardens were higher than those of roof gardens (p > 0.05). Escherichia coli was isolated at 3.1% among whole vegetables, and contamination level was $1.5{\pm}0.2\;log\;CFU{\cdot}g^{-1}$. Among foodborne pathogens, Staphylococcus aureus was detected in 1.5%, however, Salmonella spp., Listeria monocytogenes and E. coli O157:H7 were not detected on any of the vegetable samples. We also found undefined parasite eggs from two samples of Chinese cabbages (0.8% of total vegetables we tested). From these study, we found the presence of microbial contamination of agricultural products from urban farming, thus we need further concern to improve the biosafety during production of agricultural products.

• Food Science of Animal Resources
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• v.28 no.5
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• pp.555-561
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• 2008

Ninety-nine samples of powdered infant formula in a market were collected from the local market and their contaminations for total aerobic bacteria, coliform, FAO/WHO Category A, B, and C pathogens were analyzed. Total aerobic bacteria were detected in 92 of 99 samples (93%) at levels of $1.83{\pm}0.68\;Log\;MPN/g$. These levels were below legal levels specified for infant formulas except for one sample detected by 4.5 Log CFU/g. Coliform was detected in 12 of 99 samples (12%) at levels of $1.26{\pm}1.03\;Log\;MPN/g$ whereas non-detection was required according to the specification of coliform in infant formulas. Escherichia coli was detected in 1 of 99 samples by 0.48 Log MPN/g. Salmonella and Enterobacter sakazakii among Category A weren't detected in all the samples. Enterobacteriaceae, Category B group, were detected in 25 samples of total 99 samples (25%) by $0.83{\pm}1.37\;Log\;MPN/g$. Enterobacteriaceae identified by API 20E were Escherichia vulneris, Es. hermannii, Pantoea spp., Citrobacter koseri, Klebsiella pneumoniae, En. cloaceae. Bacillus cereus among Category C was highly detected in 29 of 99 samples (29%) at levels of $0.69{\pm}0.32\;Log\;MPN/g$ with the most probable number count method, which were below legal levels for the specification of B. cereus in infant formulas. Clostridium perfringens, E. coli O157, Staphyloccus aureus, Listeria monocytogenes, Yersinia enterocolitica, and Campylobacter jejuni/coli were not detected. Contamination level of major pathogens was low and falls within the range of specification of infant formulas. However, Enterobacteriaceae and B.cereus showed the high prevalence and some Enterobacteriaceae causing disease were detected. Therefore, it is necessary to monitor the potential pathogens continually and reduce them to improve the microbial quality of non-sterilized powdered infant formulas.

• Journal of Yeungnam Medical Science
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• v.5 no.1
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• pp.69-75
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• 1988

The drinking water in the apartment is stored in reservior tank and thereafter supplied each household. In case the drinking water is stored too long or insanitary, tap water might change in quality. This study was carried out to evaluate the physico-chemical and microbiological conditions of 36 samples of tap water of apartments compared to 18 samples of tap water of independence houses in Taegu City from May to October, 1987. Main findings are summarized as follows : PH values were within normal range in all samples. Samples less than 0.2ppm in residual chlorine accounted for 16.7% in the appartment and 5.6% in the independence house. Nitrite nitrogen was detected 2.8% of apartment samples only. Among the total of 54 samples, 11.1% of the apartment and independence samples were over the normal value in standard plate count. Samples more than 1.8 of most probable number(MPN) accounted for 27.8% in the apartment and 33.3% in the independence house. In result of test for residual chlorine, nitrite nitrogen, standard plate count, and MPN, the proportion of the samples revealed inappropriated in respect of drinking water standards. In case of all sorts of tests was 2.7% in apartment and nothing in independence houses, in case of 3 sorts of tests was 2.7% in apartment and 5.6% in independence houses, in case of 2 sorts of tests was 8.3% in apartment and 5.6% in independence houses, and in case of only 1 test was 25.0% in apartment and 22.2% in independence houses. Correlation between residual chlorine and standard plate count, and between standard plate count and MPN were observed. It was found that the more years since construction of apartment were, the worse tap water was in quality.

• Journal of Food Hygiene and Safety
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• v.14 no.3
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• pp.293-304
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• 1999

The purpose of this study was to evaluate the microbiological quality, and to assure the hygienic safety of the food production in the university food service facility located in Seoul in accordance with the Hazard Analysis Critical Control Point(HACCP) concepts. In the hygienic state assessment of kitchen, it has revealed that it was very important to remove water from the kitchen floor and to establish standard method for disinfection of cooking utensils. And foodservice workers were required to have training program for the safe handling of food and utensils since they did treat food without hygienic gloves. The kitchen layout had to be improved because the near distance of table with heating unit and shelf might cause the growth of microorganisms when prepared food was kept on the shelf. In terms of the timetemperature measurement and microbiological quality assessment during each of the food production phases, most of sengchae (raw vegetable dish) and namul (cooked vegetable dish) were treated within danger zone for food safeness ($5~60^{\circ}C$). It has shown that the microbiological quality of raw materials was very much inferior at the time of receiving based on the TPC($10^{5}~10^{7}$), coliform($10^{3}~1O^{6}$), which was not acceptable level(TPC:$10^{6}$, coliform:$10^{3}$) suggested by Solberg. Microbiological growth has increased in the both of sengchae and namul considerably during most of food production phase. Therefore, it is extremely important to reduce holding and serving time and to avoid treating food within the danger zone for food safeness. In addition, the prevention of cross-contamination during mixing the ingredients with improper equipments and with insanitary treatments by workers was also important to keep the food safety in this speciqic university foodservice facility.

• Journal of Food Hygiene and Safety
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• v.25 no.4
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• pp.346-353
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• 2010

This study was conducted to determine cleaning effects of environmental-friendly washing detergent on milking installation in dairy farms. Milking machine, cooling machine and milking liner were washed by alkaline detergent and acid detergent for first three weeks and alkaline detergent and environmental~friendly detergent for next three weeks and the results get through microorganism and physico-chemistry analysis at the five district dairy farms different from environment. E-coli, coliform, fecal coliform, staphylococcus aureus, fecal streptococcus, prsudomonas aeruginosa and yersinia were not found in all of the dairy farms, and total colony counts were no difference compared with chemical detergent. The water for washing exceeded the determining acceptable level of nitrate nitrogen in the Anseong, Onyang and Cheonan and the remaining substance of washed water was also high levels. The cause of the result was that the level of nitrate nitrogen of water is basically high. Therefore, this study indicated that washing effect is no differences between environmental-friendly detergent and chemical detergent by washing for milking machine and cooling machine. Above all, producing high quality milk is to manage the water quality as well as using detergent.

• Korean Journal of Food Science and Technology
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• v.37 no.2
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• pp.268-273
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• 2005

Changes in contents of phytochemical compounds (${\beta}$-carotene, ascorbic acid, chlorophylls, total flavonoid, total polyphenol) and hazardous factors (microbial counts, nitrate) of spinach (Spinacia oleracia L.) were investigated by conventional and microwave blanching methods. ${\beta}$-Carotene and chlorophylls contents of spinach were significantly increased by blanching, with conventional blanching resulting in higher contents than microwave blanching. In contrast, contents of ascorbic acid, total flavonoid, and total polyphenol of blanched spinach decreased, with microwave blanching resulting in higher ascorbic acid, total flavonoid, and total polyphenol contents than conventional blanching. Total plate count and total coliforms of blanched spinach significantly decreased, with conventional blanching showing less than 20-25% of microwave blanching. Nitrate content of blanched spinach also showed decreasing pattern, with decrease due to microwave blanching being lower, although not significantly, than that of conventional blanching.

• Food Science and Preservation
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• v.18 no.1
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• pp.7-12
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• 2011

Paprika is a major export of Korea, but biosafety is important if exports are to grow. To date, few paprika biosafety data are available. We evaluated microbiological contamination of paprika, and determined bacterial levels with respect to storage temperature. Mean counts of total aerobic bacteria were $2.3{\pm}0.3\;log_{10}\;CFU/g$, but coliforms were not isolated. Staphylococcus aureus, Salmonella spp., Listeria spp., and Escherichia coli O157 were also not detected. When bacterial contamination of paprika stored at room temperature or $4^{\circ}C$ for 20 days was evaluated, the numbers of total aerobic bacteria peaked at 14-16 days at room temperature (4 times more than those of $4^{\circ}C$). However, aerobic bacteria grew slowly at $4^{\circ}C$. Coliforms were also detected twice at room temperature, but not upon storage at $4^{\circ}C$. The results indicate that the paprika exported from Korea is relatively biosafe. However, food hygiene issues must be addressed to reduce contamination during storage and distribution.

• Food Science and Preservation
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• v.16 no.2
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• pp.160-165
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• 2009

Microbiological and sensory qualities of Musaengchae prepared with gamma-irradiated red pepper powder were investigated during storage at $4^{\circ}C$. Total aerobic bacteria in non-irradiated raw materials prior to Musangchae preparation were 6.71 log CFU/g in red pepper powder, 3.39 log CFU/g in radish, 2.21 log CFU/g in scallion, and 2.10 log CFU/g in garlic, respectively. Coliforms(2.15 log CFU/g) were detected only in red pepper powder, and not in Musangchae to which gamma-irradiated red pepper powder. None of pH, Hunter's color value, or sensory properties were significantly affected by addition of irradiated red pepper powder. These results suggest that addition of such powder, after irradiation with less then 10 kGy, could improve Musangchae microbiological safety without changing the sensory or physical qualities.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Food Science and Nutrition
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• v.45 no.7
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• pp.1035-1040
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• 2016

This study investigated the prevalence of foodborne pathogens and the bacterial community of traditional Doenjang collected from a longevity area in Korea as well as the antagonistic effect of traditional Doenjang isolates against Bacillus cereus to estimate the microbiological safety of traditional Doenjang. Aerobic bacteria showed $10^6{\sim}10^9CFU/g$, whereas coliform bacteria was not detected. Foodborne pathogens were not detected except B. cereus, which was detected in seven samples out of 10 Doenjang samples. A total of 327 isolates were identified from traditional Doenjang. The isolates consisted of Bacillus subtilis 155 (47.4%), Bacillus licheniformis 68 (20.8%), Bacillus amyloliquefaciens 46 (14.1%), and Bacillus pumilus 18 (5.5%). Antagonistic effect against B. cereus was detected in 20 (6.1%) of 327 isolates, which consisted of B. subtilis (12 strains), B. amyloliquefaciens (5 strains), and B. licheniformis (3 strains). The inhibitory zone for the antagonistic effect was 9.0~12.0 mm in diameter. Although a small amount of traditional Doenjang was tested in this study, these results indicated that the potential risk of B. cereus in traditional Doenjang is lower than generally presumed. It is necessary to monitor the antagonistic effect of traditional Doenjang isolates against B. cereus.