• Journal of Food Hygiene and Safety
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• v.32 no.1
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• pp.20-26
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• 2017

Foodborne disease outbreaks associated with produces have been increasing in occurrence worldwide. This study investigated microbial contamination levels on thirteen kinds of agricultural products from farms stage to evaluate potential hazards associated with foodborne illness. A total of 1,820 samples were collected in major cultivating area from 2013 through 2015, and analyzed to enumerate aerobic bacterial counts, coliforms/E. coli, Bacillus cereus and Staphylococcus aureus. In addition, the prevalence study for four kinds of microorganisms (Escherichia coli, E. coli O157:H7, Salmonella spp. and Listeria monocytogenes) was performed on each sample. Aerobic bacterial counts ranged from 0.01 to 7.18 log CFU/g, with the highest bacterial cell counts recorded for watermelon. Coliforms were detected in 651 samples (35.8%) with a minimum of 0.01 log CFU/g and a maximum of more than 5 log CFU/g. B. cereus was detected in 169 samples (9.3%) ranging from < 0.01 to 2.48 log CFU/g among total samples analyzed. S. aureus was detected in 14 samples (0.7%) with a minimum of 0.01 log CFU/g and a maximum of 1.69 log CFU/g. E. coli was detected in 101 samples (5.5%) among 1,820 samples. E. coli O157:H7, Salmonella spp. and L. monocytogenes were not detected in any of the samples. The microbial contamination levels of several agricultural products determined in this study may be used as the fundamental data for microbiological risk assessment (MRA).

• Journal of Food Hygiene and Safety
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• v.22 no.2
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• pp.82-87
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• 2007

This research was performed to investigate chemical and microbiological hazards of Ready-to-eat(RTE) compound foods which uses the by-product of meat. For this experiment, 51 samples of RTE compound foods in by-product of meat distributed in Incheon from January to December 2006 were tested. The contents of heavy metals in the main ingredient of RTE compound foods were in the range of $0.073{\sim}0.112ppm$ for lead (Pb), $0.006{\sim}0.013ppm$ for cadmium (Cd) and $0.746{\sim}0.978ppb$ for mercury (Hg). The concentrations of residual ABS(alkyl benzene sulfate) in the small intestine which is a main ingredient of Gopchang-casserole were $$0.8ppm{\sim}57.6ppm$ (Ave. 10.3ppm). Staphylococcus aureus was isolated from 11 samples (21.6%) among 51 main ingredients of RTE compound foods. The isolation rates of Salmonella spp. and Clostridium perfringens were 2.0% (1/51) and 5.9% (2/51), respectively. By types of main ingredient, the small intestine was showed the highest isolation rate as 35.3% (12/34), ham and the sausage which are main ingredients of the Budae-pot stew were 25% (2/8) and other meat products were 20% (1/5). Food poisoning bacteria was not found in the blood of pig which is a main ingredient of the Sunji-pot stew. 28.4% (27/95) of sauce included in each RTE compound foods were coliform bacteria positive. Pesticide residues were found in four of 45 vegetables which are the additional ingredient of RTE compound foods. The concentrations of pesticide were chlorothalonil 2.8 ppm, EPN 10.3 ppm, chlorpyrifos 0.4ppm and indoxacarb 0.7ppm. In 33 bean sprout samples, captan and carbendazim were not detected.

• Korean Journal of Environmental Agriculture
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• v.24 no.3
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• pp.215-221
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• 2005

Numerous abandoned or closed mines are present in the steep mountain valleys in Korea due to the depression of the mining industry since the late 1980s. From the mines, enormous amounts of wastes were dumped on the slopes causing sedimentation and acid mine drainage to be discharged directly into streams causing detrimental effects on surrounding environment. Objective of this research was to evaluate the feasibility of the lime cake by-product from the soda ash production (Solvay process) to neutralize the pyrophyllite mine wastes, which have discharged the acid drainage to soil and stream in the watershed. The pH of mine wastes was strongly acidic at pH 3.67 containing over 16% of $Al_2O_3$ and 11% of $Fe_2O_3$. Whereas the lime cake by-product was strongly basic at pH 9.97 due to high contents of CaO, MgO and $CaCl_2$ as major components. Column experiments were conducted to test the neutralizing capacity of the lime cake by-product for the acidic pyrophyllite mine wastes. The column packed with the wastes (control) was treated with the lime cake by-product, calcium carbonate, the dressing soil or combination. The distilled water was eluted statically through the column and the leachate was collected for the chemical analyses. Treatments of the mine wastes with the lime cake by-product (or calcium carbonate) as mixtures increased pH of the leachate from $3.5{\sim}4.0\;to\;7{\sim}8$. Concentrations of Fe and Al in the leachate were also decreased below 1.0 mg $L^{-1}$. A Similar result was observed at the combined treatments of the mine waste, the lime by-product (or calcium carbonate) and the dressing soil. The results indicated that the lime cake by-product could sufficiently neutralize the acid drainage from the pyrophyllite mine wastes without dressing soils.

• Food Engineering Progress
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• v.14 no.4
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• pp.307-315
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• 2010

The safety and security of food supply should be one of the primary responsibilities of any government. Estimation of nation's food commodity intakes is important to control the potential risks in food systems since food hazards are often associated with quality and safety of food commodities. The food intake databases provided by Korea National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (KNHANES) are good resources to estimate the demographic data of intakes of various food commodities. A limitation of the KNHANES databases, however, is that the food intakes surveyed are not based on commodities but ingredients and their mixtures. In this study, reasonable calculation strategies were applied to convert the food intakes of the ingredients mixtures from the KNHANES into food commodity intakes. For example, Perilla leaf consumed with meat, raw fish, and etc. in Korean diets was used to estimate its Korean intakes and develop algorithms for demographic analysis. Koreans have consumed raw, blanched, steamed, and canned perilla leaf products. The average daily intakes of the perilla leaf were analyzed demographically, for examples, the intakes by gender, age, and etc. The average daily intakes of total perilla leaf were 2.03${\pm}$0.27 g in 1998, 2.11${\pm}$0.26 g in 2001, 2.29${\pm}$0.27 g in 2005, 2.75${\pm}$0.35 g in 2007, and 2.27${\pm}$0.20 g in 2008. Generally, people equal to or over 20 years of age have shown higher perilla leaf intakes than people below 20. This study would be contributed to the estimation of intakes of possible chemical contaminants such as residual pesticides and subsequent analysis for their potential risk.