• Food Science of Animal Resources
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• v.32 no.4
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• pp.441-447
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• 2012

In this study, ready-to-cook (RTC) pork bulgogi was investigated microbiologically to determine contamination levels. The investigation was conducted because of an increasing trend in the consumption of RTC meat products in Korea. Ninety marinated RTC pork bulgogi samples were collected from major retail outlets (M), department stores (D), and local markets (L) in Seoul, Korea from March to June 2011. This study examined total plate counts (TPC), Escherichia coli, and coliform bacterial counts, and the presence of Bacillus cereus, Staphylococcus aureus, Listeria monocytogenes, Salmonella spp., and E. coli O157:H7. The mean TPC values were 5.89, 6.08, and 5.89 Log CFU/g for M, D, and L, respectively. E. coli was not detected in any sample, but coliforms were present in 72 (80%) of the 90 samples collected. B. cereus, E. coli O157:H7, and Salmonella spp. were not detected; however, S. aureus and L. monocytogenes were detected in five (5.5%) and one (1.1%) of the 90 samples. Samples collected from M and D were contaminated with S. aureus and those from L with L. monocytogenes. These results demonstrate that the conditions under which RTC pork bulgogis are handled and processed are unsanitary.

• Journal of Food Hygiene and Safety
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• v.29 no.3
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• pp.207-210
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• 2014

Bacillus cereus is food poisoning bacteria frequently occured in starch food. Most of the delivery foods for infant is classified as ready-to-cook food. But unlike food for infant and young children, there are no standards and specifications of Bacillus cereus in ready-to-cook food. The purpose of this study is to examine the presence of Bacillus cereus, aerobic bacteria and coliforms in the food for infant and young children sold through internet. B. cereus was detected in 9 samples (8.3%), total aerobic bacteria was detected over $10^6CFU/g$ in 4 samples and coliforms were not detected in any samples. This will provide basic data for standards and specifications of Bacillus cereus in ready-to-cook food.

• Journal of the Korean Dietetic Association
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• v.26 no.2
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• pp.116-125
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• 2020

The purpose of this study was to assess the sugars contents of home meal replacement (HMR) products currently sold in Korea. This study surveyed and examined the sugars contents in 835 popular HMRs (294 ready-to-eat foods; RTE, 499 ready-to-cook foods; RTC, 42 fresh-cut vegetables; FCV) through the nutrition labels. The average price, weight and energy content of 835 HMR products were 3,917.5 Korean won, 336.0 g, and 522.7 kcal, respectively. The sugars content per product was significantly higher in the RTCs (13.4 g) and RTEs (10.3 g) than that in the FCVs (4.2 g) (P<0.001), and the percentage of energy from sugars was 9.7% for the RTEs, 10.2% for the RTCs, and 8.7% for the FCVs without any significant difference. The sugars contents of 9 RTE types were in the order of side dishes (34.3 g), sunsik (22.5 g) and hamburgers (12.1 g) per package. The percentage of energy from sugars was highest in side dishes (28.1%), followed by kimchi (24.9%), sunsik (17.2%), and hamburgers (10.6%). Among 14 RTC types, the sugars contents were in the order of hot dogs (52.9 g), tteokbokki (30.4 g) and noodles (21.2 g) per package. The percentage of energy from sugars was the highest at 22.9% for sauces, followed by side dishes (17.3%), porridges (14.4%), instant stews (14.3%), and hot dogs (13.1%). Strategies and practices are needed to reduce the sugars contents of HMR producers and the sugars intakes of HMR consumers.

• Food Science of Animal Resources
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• v.29 no.6
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• pp.673-679
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• 2009

To develop ready-to-eat (RTE) style Korean traditional Galbi-jjim, the optimal conditions for sous-vide cooking and cookchill preparation and the sensory properties of the cooked products were investigated. During heating, the meat core temperatures reached $85^{\circ}C$ within 30 min and 45 min when a water bath and combination oven were used, respectively. Chilling to $3^{\circ}C$ within 45 min was conducted to meet the standards for microbiological safety set by the UK Department of Health and Social Security (DHSS) Guideline. Galbi-jjim that was vacuum-cooked in a water bath was much more tender than that of Galbi-jjim prepared using the cook-chill method, but had no difference in any reheating methods. The average sensory scores of juiciness and the overall acceptance of Galbi-jjim were significantly higher when water bath cooking was used, and there were no differences in reheating methods. In conclusion, the serial methods of sous-vide processing and rapid chilling can be applied to produce RTE traditional Galbi-jjim, and this can be conducted while meeting the standards specified in safety guidelines.

• Agribusiness and Information Management
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• v.6 no.2
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• pp.1-12
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• 2014

HMR is a home-style food product designed for convenience and cooked outside the home leaving out cumbersome cooking process and consumed at home. The present paper aims to find out factors that influence the consumption of HMR by analyzing data on food consumption during the 3 years between December 2010 and November 2013. Following the classification of Costa et al. (2001), this study categorized HMR products as 3 types as follows: C1 (ready to eat), C2 (ready to heat) and C3 (ready to cook), and examined factors affecting purchase rate and per capita purchase price for each type of HMR product. The results of our analysis show that only the purchase rate of C3 products was influenced by whether the purchaser was housewife with job or not. For those who do not live together with parents, per capita purchase price for HMR was high; and the more they ate out, the higher the purchase rate of HMR was.

• Food Science of Animal Resources
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• v.39 no.6
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• pp.863-876
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• 2019

The thermal-death times of Listeria monocytogenes were determined in inoculated restructured goat steak at 60℃, 65℃, and 70℃ of sous-vide temperatures. D-values of L. monocytogenes in inoculated restructured goat steak ranged from 7.27 min at 60℃ to 0.46 min at 70℃. Times need to yield at least a 6 log reduction of L. monocytogenes at their temperatures for this product were 47, 12, and 3 min, respectively. After sous-vide, all microbial counts in non-inoculated samples were not detectable, except the aerobic and anaerobic mesophilie and lactic acid bacteria counts were lower than 2 Log CFU/g. For sous-vided and grilled sous-vided samples, sous-vide loss and surface shrinkage were the lowest in samples sous-vided at 60℃ for 47 min (p<0.05). These samples demonstrated the lowest CIE L^*, shear force, hardness, gumminess and chewiness and the highest CIE a^* and hue angle (p<0.05). Therefore, sous-vide at 60℃ for 47 min provided convenient ready-to-cook restructured goat steak for microbiology safety and optimization of physicochemical quality.

• Korean Journal of Community Nutrition
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• v.12 no.3
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• pp.344-351
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• 2007

The purposes of this study were to analyze the consumer inclination to convenience towards HMR in order to verify the structural correlation of the actual state of consumption, and to analyze consequently, the direct or indirect effects among 'frequency of using,' 'preference', 'satisfaction', and 'intention to repurchase'. The subjects were adults in their twenties or older who had used HMRs and lived in Seoul and Gyeonggi Province in Korea. Random sampling of 550 subjects, who were distributed a questionnaire from March 12 to 30, 2005. A total of 451 questionnaires were returned (the return rates were 82%). The main results of this study were as follows : Regarding the types of HMR, 'Ready to eat' had higher preference (3.31), satisfaction (3.33) and 'intention to purchase it again' (3.38) than those of 'Ready to heat' and 'Ready to end-cook.' Consumer inclination to convenience towards HMR was analyzed in order to verify the structural correlation of the actual state of consumption, and consequently, the direct or indirect effects among 'frequency of using,' 'preference', 'satisfaction', and 'intention to repurchase' were analyzed. The gross effect of 'frequency of using' on 'intention to repurchase' was 0.435, the gross effect of preference on 'intention to purchase it again' was 0.659, and the gross effect of satisfaction on 'intention to purchase it again' was 0.772 for 'Ready to eat.' The gross effect of 'frequency of using' on 'intention to repurchase' was 0.448, the gross effect of preference on 'intention to repurchase' was 0.556, and the gross effect of satisfaction on 'intention to repurchase' was 0.654 for 'Ready to heat.' The gross effect of 'frequency of using' on 'intention to repurchase' was 0.432, the gross effect of preference on 'intention to repurchase' was 0.494, and the gross effect of satisfaction on 'intention to repurchase' was 0.608 for 'Ready to end-cook.' To summerize the above results, there was a difference of the structural correlation among component concepts of the actual state of consuming according to the criteria of HMR. Thus, it implied that differentiated sales strategies were needed according to the criteria of HMR.

• The Korean Journal of Food And Nutrition
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• v.34 no.6
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• pp.650-661
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• 2021

The purpose of this study was to compare and analyze the importance and satisfaction of consumer selective attributes by home meal replacement (HMR) types using local ingredients. This study was conducted from December 4 to December 8, 2020. A total of 380 responses organized according to preferred types of HMR (100 for Ready to Eat (RTE), 92 for Ready to Heat (RTH), 88 for Ready to Cook (RTC), 100 for Ready to Prepared (RTP) were used for the final analysis. Statistical analysis was conducted by descriptive analysis, paired t-test, and importance-satisfaction analysis by HMR type. Findings of this study showed significant differences in consumer selective attributes by HMR type. RTE and RTC need to improve quality while RTH needs to improve quality and packaging. Notable selective attributes were quality, packaging, and information. They were located in different quadrants of each HMR type. All other attributes appeared in the same quadrant. Further research is needed to determine differences in quality, packaging, and information for each HMR type. Results of this study provide basic data for developing products and marketing strategies for each type of HMR products using local ingredients.

• Korean Journal of Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences
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• v.18 no.5
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• pp.409-416
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• 1985

In previous paper (Lee et al., 1983) processing method of sardine meat "surimi" was described as a part of the wort to develop new types of ready-to-cook food materials with dark fleshed fishes. As the other part of the work, processing of low salt mackerel fillet was investigated, in this paper, in which fresh mackerel was filleted, salted in brine or with dry salt for an adequate time until the expected salt concentration reached, washed, air dried (3 m/sec, 15 to $20^{\circ}C$), and finally packed individually in K-flex film bag by vacuum or $N_2$ gas substitution. Salting time and salt concentration of brine was decided by the salt level penetrated into the fillet. As the final salt level was fixed to 4 to $5\%$, salting for 20 hours with $10\%$ dry salt or in $15\%$ brine at $5^{\circ}C$ was enough to get that level of salt. If the final salt level was set 5 to $6\%$, salting for 20-24 hours with $15\%$ dry salt or in $20\%$ brine was adequate. Salt penetration, however, was not much influenced by salting method and temperature. Changes in VBN and salt soluble protein occurred more rapidly in cases of salting with dry salt at $20^{\circ}C$ than salted in brine at $5^{\circ}C$, although it was not significant in the period of 20 to 24 hours. Oxidation of lipid and histamine formation during salting at $20^{\circ}C$ could not be neglected if it was delayed loger than 25 hours. Insolubilizing the salt soluble proteins during the storage of salted fillet occurred rapidly regardless of storage temperature. Browning and histamine formation, however, was depended on temperature and packing condition. In case of air pack, deterioration by browning and rancid was deeply developed but not the case for the packs by vacuum or $N_2$ gas substitution. The shelf-life of the salted mackerel fillet based on panel scores of brown color and rancidity, appeared 21 days for the air packed, and more than 30 days for vacunm or $N_2$ gas packed fillet at $20^{\circ}C$.

• Asia Marketing Journal
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• v.21 no.4
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• pp.25-43
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• 2020

Although ready meals have recently increased their market share in the Korean food industry, a literature review found that the use of ready meals triggers feelings of guilt in homemakers. Such guilt arises as a result of several factors apparently related to consumers' health. Consequently, levels of guilt might be expected to vary depending on consumers' perceived health locus. The present study aims to examine (a) how health locus affects guilty feelings about ready-meal consumption, (b) how the effect varies in relation to the consumption of different types of ready meal, and (c) the relationship between consumers' guilty feelings and willingness to buy ready meals. Three dimensions of health locus of control (HLC) -internal HLC (IHLC), powerful-others HLC (PHLC), and chance HLC (CHLC)- were presumed to influence consumers' feelings of guilt in association with ready meals. Data were collected via an online survey, and participants were randomly assigned to either of two groups: one group was instructed to heat meals in a microwave (ready-to-heat [RTH] group, n=104) and the other cooked using a pan with additional ingredients (ready-to-cook [RTC] group, n=101). The study found that guilty feelings about consuming RTH meals increased in line with increased external HLCs, namely, PHLC and CHLC. For the RTC group, guilt increased in line with increased PHLC. IHLC had no significant effect on guilty feelings in either group. Willingness to buy ready meals decreased for both groups as consumers' feelings of guilt increased. Even RTC meals, which require more time and energy in food preparation, did not reduce guilty feelings among consumers with higher PHLC. RTC meals are preferable for consumers with higher CHLC, since their sense of greater involvement in the cooking process alleviates their feelings of guilt. Cooking with already prepared and uncooked ingredients brought fun and joy, both for the participants and their significant others. This interpretation may be developed into a strategic plan by ready-meal producers to strengthen their marketing strategy.