• Korean Journal of Community Nutrition
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• v.27 no.6
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• pp.480-491
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• 2022

Objectives: This study examined the problems encountered when analyzing the market size, purchase, and consumption of HMR (home meal replacements) in the Republic of Korea. Methods: The macro data relevant to the market size and purchase status of HMR were critically summarized. The micro data retrieved from the 2019 & 2020 Korea National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (KNHANES) were analyzed to understand the consumption of HMR. Results: The Korea Agro-Fisheries & Food Trade Corporation and the Ministry of Food and Drug Administration reported the market size of HMR, whereas the Korean Rural Economic Institute and the Rural Development Administration reported the purchase expense and frequencies of HMR. Since the values on the market size and purchase status were calculated or surveyed using different scopes of HMR, there have been reliability issues for the data presented. Additionally, lack of consensus on the use of Korean terms corresponding to HMR was found to be a problem. To examine the consumption of HMR, analysis of the food intake data from KNHANES presented results with very low validity due to the inappropriate survey and coding scheme not reflecting the inclusion of new food types. Conclusions: Several problematic discrepancies were encountered in the statistics on HMR. The fundamental cause of these problems was the absence of agreement on the scope of HMR and the Korean terms corresponding to it. Considering the increasing importance of HMR in Korean diets, urgent cooperative efforts are required between the government and academia to derive an agreed Korean term and establish the scope of HMR.

• Korean Journal of Food Science and Technology
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• v.42 no.3
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• pp.269-276
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• 2010

Total mercury and methylmercury concentrations were determined in 15 commonly consumed aquatic food species using total mercury analyzer and gas chromatography with electron capture detector. The mean total mercury and methylmercury concentrations (mg/kg) were 0.088 and 0.034 in mackerel, 0.061 and 0.016 in hair tail, 0.030 and 0.005 in yellow croaker, 0.032 and 0.008 in Alaska pollock, 0.059 and 0.023 in eastern catfish, 0.110 and 0.045 in snakehead, 0.030 and 0.011 in Japanese common squid, 0.026 and 0.009 in common octopus, 0.035 and 0.008 in swimming crab, 0.009 and not detected (ND) in oyster, 0.011 and ND in shortneck clam, 0.008 and ND in mussel, 0.018 and ND in sea mustard, 0.007 and ND in nori, and 0.019 and ND in sea tangle, respectively. The total weekly dietary intakes of total mercury and methylmercury were estimated, respectively, using food consumption data from diet surveys and the concentrations of total mercury and methylmercury from this study. They were $0.178\;{\mu}g/kg$ body weight (b.w.)/week (3.57% of provisional tolerable weekly intake (PTWI)) and $0.052\;{\mu}g/kg$ b.w./week (3.34% of PTWI) respectively, and all were within their respective PTWI set by the Joint FAO/WHO Expert Committee on Food Additives (JECFA). Therefore, considering that the main contributor to mercury intake in the diet is aquatic foods and that the 15 aquatic food species examined in this study are highly consumed, it is concluded that the mercury levels in the foods measured in this study do not present a concern for consumer health.

• Toxicological Research
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• v.26 no.4
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• pp.285-291
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• 2010

Recently, reproductive and neurobehavioral effects of bisphenol A (BPA) have been documented, and thus a review was requested for BPA management direction by the government. Therefore, this study was performed to establish a Korean tolerable daily intake (TDI) for BPA. An expert committee, consisting of specialists in fields such as toxicology, medicine, pharmacology, and statistics, was asked to evaluate BPA health based guidance values (HbGVs). Although many toxicological studies were reviewed to select a point of departure (POD) for TDI, rat and mouse reproductive studies by Tyl et al. (2002, 2006), which were performed according to GLP standards and OECD guidelines, were selected. This POD was the lowest value determined from the most sensitive toxicological test. The POD, a NOAEL of 5 mg/kg bw/day, was selected based on its systemic toxicity as critical effects. An uncertainty factor of 100 including interspecies and intraspecies differences was applied to calculate the TDI. According to the evaluation results, a TDI of BPA for Korean was suggested at 0.05 mg/kg bw/day. In addition, the BPA exposure level based on food consumption by the Korean population was estimated as 1.509 ${\mu}g/kg$ bw/day, and the HI was evaluated at 0.03 when the TDI of 0.05 mg/kg bw/day was applied. This HI value of 0.03 indicated that hazardous effects would not be expected from BPA oral exposures. Although highly uncertain, further studies on low dose neurobehavioral effects of BPA should be performed. In addition, it is recommended that the 'as low as reasonably achievable' (ALARA) principle be applied for BPA exposure from food packaging materials in newborn infants and children.

• Journal of Food Hygiene and Safety
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• v.26 no.2
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• pp.91-99
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• 2011

Risk ranking must be determined for various hazards/food combinations to conduct microbial risk management effectively. Risk Ranger is a simple, easy-to-use calculation tool developed in Microsoft Excel and designed to rank the risk (low, medium, and high) for semi-quantitative microbial risk assessment. The user is required to answer 11 questions in Risk Ranger related to 1) severity of the hazard, 2) likelihood of a disease-causing dose of the hazard being present in the meal, and 3) the probability of exposure to the hazard in a defined time. This study determined the risk ranking for twenty three combinations of foodborne pathogens/potentially hazardous foods (PHFs) using a Risk Ranger. In this study, pathogenic E. coli in fresh cut produce salad was scored as 79, which was the highest rank among the 23 combinations of the foodborne pathogens and PHFs. On the other hand, zero risk was obtained with V parahaemolyticus in sushi, Salmonella in meat products and E. coli O157:H7 in hamburger patties. Although Risk Ranger is very simple method to rate the risk of foodborne pathogens and PHFs combination, the accuracy of result was mainly affected by the availability and accuracy of data in the literature. According to the result of literature review, the data are needed for contamination rate of raw materials, consumption amount/frequency of PHFs, and the effect of processing on pathogen. Risk ranking must be continuously revalidated with new data.

• Toxicological Research
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• v.11 no.1
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• pp.91-101
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• 1995

A perinatal and postnatal study of KTC-1, a new semisyntheitic rifamycin antituberculous drug, was conducted in Sprague-Dawley rats. Dosages of KTC-1 0, 12, 27.6, and 63.5 mg/kg/day were administered to dams orally by gavage from day 17 of gestation to day 21 of lactation. All pregnant rats were allowed to deliver naturally for postnatal examination of their offspring. At 63.5 mg/kg/day, weakness, dark-red discharge around eyes, a loss in body weight, and a decrease in food and water consumption were observed in dams. An increase in the weight of adrenal gland and spleen, and a decrease in the weight of kidney and heart were also found. An increase in neonatal deaths during the lactation period, a loss in body weight, a delay in physical development, a decrease in traction ability, an increase in the number of errors and the time required for the multiple T-maze trial were found in F1 offspring. In addition, an increase in the incidence of visceral variations and retarded ossification were observed in F1 4 day old rats. An increase in the incience of skeletal anomalies was seen in F2 fetuses. There were no sings of maternal toxicity or embryotoxicity at 12 and 27.6 mg/kg/day. From the results mentioned above, it can be concluded that the no-effect dose levels(NOELs)for dams, F1 offspring, and F2 fetuses are 27.6 mg/kg/day.

• Toxicological Research
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• v.20 no.2
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• pp.123-129
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• 2004

The present study was conducted to investigate the single and 2-week repeated dose toxicity of DHP2, a hydrophobic drug delivery vehicle, in ICR mice. The test article was administered orally to mice at the dose levels of 2.5, 12.5 and 37.5 g/kg for single dose toxicity study and at the dose levels of 0, 2.5, 5, and 10 g/kg for repeated dose toxicity study. In both studies, there were no treatment-related effects on mortality, clinical signs, food and water consumption, ophthalmoscopy, urinalysis, hematology, serum biochemistry, necropsy findings and organ weights of all animals treated DHP2. Based on these results, it was concluded that the 2-week repeated oral dose of DHP2 may have no toxic effect in mice at a dose level of 10 g/kg. In the condition of this study, the no-observed-adverse-effect level (NOAEL) was considered to be 10 g/kg/day for both sexes.

• Environmental Analysis Health and Toxicology
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• v.13 no.3_4
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• pp.87-94
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• 1998

The use of cisplatin is limited by severe side effects such as renal toxicity. Our platinum-base drug discovery is aimed at developing drugs capable of diminishing toxicity and improving antitumor activity. We synthesized new Pt (II) complex analogue [Pt (cis-DACH)(DPPP)]. 2NO$_3$ (PC) containing cis-1,2-diaminocyclohexane as a carrier ligand and 1,3-bis(diphenylphosphino) propane as a leaving group. Furthermore, nitrate was added to improved the solubility. In this study, its structure was determined and its antitumor activity against SKOV-3 and NIH-OVCAR-3 human ovarian adenocarcinoma, and in vitro cytotoxicity was determined against primary cultured rabbit kidney proximal tubular and renal cortical cells of human kidney using colorimetric MTT assay. PC demonstrated acceptable antitumor activity against SKOV-3 and NIH-OVCAR-3 human ovarian adenocarcinoma and significant activity as compared with that of cisplatin. The toxicity of PC was found quite less than that of cisplatin using MTT and $^3$H-thymidine uptake tests in rabbit proximal tubular cells and human kidney cortical cells. PC was used for human cortical tissue in 7 weeks hitoculture by the glucose-consumption tests. We determined that the new platinum drug has lower nephrotoxicity than cisplatin. Based on these results, this novel platinum (II) complex compound (PC) represent a valuable lead in the development of a new anticancer chemotherapeutic agent capable of improving antitumor activity and low nephrotoxicity.

• Toxicological Research
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• v.12 no.1
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• pp.93-99
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• 1996

The effect of KTC-1, a new semisynthetic rifamycin antituberculous drug, on general toxicity, reproductive capability and fetal development was investigated in Sprague-Dawley rats. Male rats were administered KTC-1 with mashed feed from 63 days before mating to the end of mating period, and female rats were given from 14 days before mating to day 7 of gestation at dose levels of 0, 375, 750, and 1,500 ppm. The females were sacrificed on day 21 of gestation for examination of their fetuses. At 1,500 ppm, a reduction in body weight gain and testis atrophy were observed in male rats. Histological examination revealed testicular atrophy, absence or decrease of germinal cells, and vacuolization of Sertoli cells in testis. A reduction in body weight gain, a decrease in food consumption were found in female rats. In addition, decreases in the number of corpora lutea, iraplantations, and the litter size of live fetuses were seen. Mating, fertility, and pregnancy performances were also affected. There were no external abnormalities observed by examination of fetuses. At 750 ppm, a reduction in the body weight gain of male and female rats and decreases in the number of implantations and litter size were found. At 375 ppm, no treatment-related effects were observed. The results suggest that the no-effect dose levels (NOELs) of KTC-1 are 375 ppm for males and females on general toxicity, 750 ppm for males and females on reproductive capability, and 375 ppm for fetuses on embryonic development.

• Asia Marketing Journal
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• v.15 no.2
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• pp.133-173
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• 2013

Consumers empty perfectly safe to intake perishable foods everyday if they are older than what prints on expiration date. The variation in expiration dating is freshness labeling represented in various terms such as sell by, package, best before, and so on. Regardless of the terms used and meanings are attached, consumers tend to conceive of freshness labeling on food as end of its shelf-life. Consequently, the food waste becomes a big issue for businesses in food sector. In an effort to demonstrate flexibility on this, KFDA(Korea Food & Drug Administration) introduced "best before" date in domestic market place to reduce food waste, based on the food safety test conducted by KCA(Korea Consumer Agency 2009). The results indicated freshness labeling on food should not be considered as the end of its life. Current study examined the underlying mechanisms(i.e. risk perception, self-construals, and indecisiveness) that influence consumers' intention on prolonged consumption of food beyond its stamped date when the KCA test results are shown to them. In addition, the moderating effect of regulatory focus is tested in the causal relationships between underlying mechanisms and different groups of prolonged consumption intention. Study participants are divided into three groups of prolonged consumption intention: no-change, moderate-change, and wide-change. The group with moderate-change in intention being as our point of reference, logistic regression analyses are conducted on 276 sample population. The results indicated that consumers with high source credibility risk are likely to show wide-change in intention on prolonged consumption while physical risk did not show significance. The consumers with independent self-construal are likely to show no-change in intention on prolonged consumption while interdependent self-construal did not show significance. Indecisiveness showed association a group with wide-change in intention on prolonged consumption. The moderating effect of regulatory focus showed valid results in most situations; the promotion-focused consumers showed wide-change in intention, while prevention-focused consumers showed no-change in intention. Furthermore, the moderating effect of promotion-focus showed a dominant position over the causal effect of indecisiveness in which decisive consumers(i.e. no-change in intention); if they are promotion-focused they tend show for the wide-change in intention instead. It is important to note that for those promotion-focused consumers(or situations), promotion-related arguments are more effective, while for those prevention-focused consumers(or situations) prevention- related arguments are more effective means of persuasion.

• Korea Journal of Hospital Management
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• v.23 no.2
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• pp.18-27
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• 2018

Purposes: This study aims to investigate the policy effect of mandatory application of DRG for 7 disease groups in general and tertiary hospitals. Methodology: As DRG was fully implemented in July 2013, this study compares two periods before and after the change(from July 2012 to June 2013, and from July 2013 to June 2014). The benefit claim data of the National Health Insurance Service was used for the comparison. Target patients were those who visited general or tertiary hospitals between July 2012 to June 2014. For pharmaceutical consumption, Interrupted Time Series (ITS) analysis was used to see the effect of DRG mandatory application. Findings: The number of drugs prescribed per patient and pharmaceutical expenditure both showed significant reduction compared to before the DRG implementation. Practical Implications: This study used 2 sets of 1 year period data from before and after the full implementation of DRG to analyze pharmaceutical consumption. When the comparison data accumulates further, it would be possible to conduct more diverse analysis to assess policy effect and to provide way forward for the future.