• Clean Technology
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• v.21 no.3
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• pp.141-152
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• 2015

As environmental issues are emerging, bio-plastic suppliers in leading countries have been foreseeing the strong needs for environment-friendly materials such as eco-packing materials due to increased attention and regulation on recycle. To catch up with the demand, various types of bio-plastics based on natural feedstocks were developed and released on a market. These bio-plastic products drew the great attention even in domestic industries. At present, international oil price fluctuation and heavy charge on waste raise the unit cost of production and disposal expense of conventional plastic materials. These conditions make bio-plastic an alternative, because it is not restrained by oil prices and problem in the disposal. It is also expected that bio-plastic will be applied to various types of products including containers, industrial supplies, disposables, and medical supplies. However, the bio-plastic is still in its infancy, thus more research and understanding should be followed to put it to application. Bio-plastic is considered as environment-friendly material with high potential which has the advantages of production and disposal.

• Journal of Food Hygiene and Safety
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• v.33 no.1
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• pp.12-22
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• 2018

The US government has enacted the Food Safety Modernization Act (FSMA) in 2011, which is being phased in and planned. The final Rules of Produce Safety focus on biological hazards related to agricultural production, harvesting, packaging and storage, which are being phased in since 2017 depending on farm scale. As a result of comparison with the Korean-GAP (Good Agricultural Practices) standards, it is difficult to compare the two standards to be compared with each other by 1:1. However, many of the Korean-GAP standards are similar to FSMA Produce Safety rules. However, the Korean-GAP standards can be judged differently according to the evaluator as a comprehensive standard, so the details of the standards need to be reinforced. In terms of the provisions, the Korean-GAP standards are the most appropriate for the safety of workers (FSMA Subpart D), followed by livestock and wild animals (FSMA Subpart I), buildings, equipment and tools (FSMA Subpart L) and harvesting activities (FSMA Sub-part K). However, there are some weaknesses in the field of agricultural water management (FSMA Subpart E) and farm manager's qualifications and training (FSMA Subpart C), and the response to the biological soil amendments of animal origin and human waste (FSMA Subpart F) is weak. The FSMA regulation is not a certification standard, but it is expected that the marbling effect, which is the standard laid down by the United States leading the world food safety standards, is expected to be considerable. Therefore, we hope that the review of the Korean-GAP standards will help improve the quality of agricultural products and expand our exports, since the standard for responding to microbiological safety emphasized in the FSMA regulations is the Korean-GAP standard.

• Journal of Food Hygiene and Safety
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• v.38 no.6
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• pp.528-536
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• 2023

In Korea, from January 2023, the Act on Labeling and Advertising of Food was revised to reflect the use-by-date rather than the sell-by-date. Hence, the purpose of this study was to establish a system for calculating the safety factor and determining the recommended use-by-date for each food type, thereby providing a scientific basis for the recommended use-by-date labels. A safety factor calculation technique based on scientific principles was designed through literature review and simulation, and opinions were collected by conducting surveys and discussions including industry and academia, among others. The main considerations in this study were pH, Aw, sterilization, preservatives, packaging for storage improvement, storage temperature, and other external factors. A safety factor of 0.97 was exceptionally applied for frozen products and 1.0 for sterilized products. In addition, a between-sample error value of 0.08 was applied to factors related to product and experimental design. This study suggests that clearly providing a safe use-by-date will help reduce food waste and contribute to carbon neutrality.