We investigated the consumption inclinations of consumers for environmentally-friendly agricultural products (EFAP) for better production and distribution of EFAP. Consumer inclinations in large supermarkets from April 7th to 30th, 2008 were surveyed. Data were analyzed using the SPSSWIN 12.0 program. Results showed that 90.4% of consumers recognized EFAP and 76.4% of those who recognized the products had actually bought the products. Members of the "have purchased group" bought EFAP once a week because they believed these products were safe from hazards, such as pesticide. The amount spent on EFAP was less than 20% of the total food budget and the major consumed items were green vegetables and fruits. The sale location was mainly large supermarkets and agricultural cooperation outlets. Although many people were satisfied with EFAP from the viewpoint of nutritional and sensory qualities and safety compared with general agricultural products, they were notsatisfied with the price. Many consumers trusted that EFAP were safe and nutritional. Members of the "not purchased group" also trusted the nutritional and sensory qualities of EFAP and recognized the safety issue, but they were not satisfied with the price, compared with general agricultural products. Consequently, to succeed in the market, EFAP should maintain the confidence of the consumer while decreasing in price.
The aim of this study is to evaluate the estrogenic activity of Cucurbita pepo seed extract which includes β-sitosterol and other phytosterols. Sample was extracted from Cucurbita pepo seed by supercritical carbondioxide method and resuspended with ethanol. Estrogenic activity was measured by recombinant yeast assay which detects estrogenic activity using recombinant yeast with high level of estrogenic receptor. However, estrogenic activity of pumpkin seed extract was not found in this study. Based on this data, pumpkin seed extract will not cause estrogenic disturbance.
Hand-washing is one of the most important factors in infection control and in preventing crosscontamination. The objective of this study was to investigate female university students’ awareness of hand-washing, their hand washing practices, and the difference between their awareness and practices. A self-administered questionnaire survey and direct observation in restrooms were separately carried out in a university campus and over four weeks’ period. A total of 97.4% of the survey respondents claimed to wash their hands after using toilet, and 98.2% of the observed students actually did so according to the unnoticed observational study. However, only 6.3% of the students who washed their hands in the direct observation washed for more than 10 seconds, although 46.4% of respondents in the survey reported that they usually wash their hands for more than 10 seconds. Among the observed students who washed their hands, only 0.9% used soap, and 0.9% washed four parts of their hands. Paper towel was the most common hand-drying method in the direct observation and also in the survey. Significant differences were found in duration, use of soap, part of washing, and hand-drying method between the questionnaire survey and the direct observation (p<0.05). This study indicates that there is a noticeable difference between the awareness of handwashing and hand-washing practices among female university students. Further research should examine hand-washing practices of female university students in restrooms outside the university campus.
This study was carried out to investigate the current status of suspected endocrine disrupting pesticides among the agricultural products in northern area of Seoul in 2007. 3,026 samples was analyzed by multiresidue method. Detected Pesticide in 11 cases were procymidone, endosulfan, chlorothalonil, chlorpyrifos, cyermethrin, fenvalerate, hexaconazole, carbendazim, pendimethalin, permethrin, parathion and exceeded 7 cases of endosulfan, procymidone, carbendazim, chlorothalonil, chlorpyrifos, cypermethrin, fenvalerate in the maximum residue limits(MRLs). Procymidone, endosulfan, chlorothalonil and chlorpyrifos comprised up to 80.5% in detected pesticides. Among the 321 cases of detected agricultural products, 287 cases(89.4%) were vegetables, 25 cases (7.8%) were fruits, Others were 9 cases(2.8%).
A survey of food preservatives, sulfur dioxide and microbial contamination levels was conducted on 73 seasoned dried fishes(41 squids, 17 filleted fish, 6 Alaska pollack, 9 others) collected from domestic markets and internet. Among preservatives, only sorbic acid was detected in 25 samples including 23 seasoned dried squids, 1 seasoned filleted fish and 1 seasoned dried Alaska pollack with a range 0.01~0.92 g/kg. Sulfur dioxide was detected from one sample(seasoned dried squid) and its content was 10.5 mg/kg. All samples were contaminated by total aerobic bacteria, and the degree was 3.00~6.45 log10CFU/g(average level was 5.09 log10CFU/g). Escherichia coli, Salmonella spp. and Staphylococcus aureus were not detected in all samples. On the basis of the results above, most of the seasoned dried fishes were appropriate for Korea food standard, yet biological hygiene control will be needed constantly.
In this study, we have developed a fluorescence chromatographic assay for the quantification of total cholesterol in serum, which is a well-known risk predictor for cardiovascular diseases. The new assay system consists of a chromatographic strip in a cartridge, enzyme buffer containing cholesterol esterase, cholesterol oxidase, horseradish peroxidase, and color developer AEC, and a laser fluorescence scanner. The correlation coefficient (r) between cholesterol concentration and relative fluorescence units was 0.968 in the new assay, showing a reliable linearity through the tested range of cholesterol. Recovery test and comparability with a Hitachi 747 instrument showed 106.5-94% and r = 0.939 (p<0.001), respectively. The new assay system for cholesterol was developed as a pre-POCT platform conducted in clinics since it is fast (8 min) and uses a small volume of sample (5 μl), and it may be applied for on-site diagnostics to replace expensive automated biochemical analyzer.
This survey was conducted to monitor the safety of children snacks circulated in a stationary store or small shop around the elementary school from March to October, 2008, in Gwangju. A total of 309 samples was tested. Of these samples, 254 were confectioneries, 41 were ready-to-eat foods like kimbap, 4 were beverages and 10 were the others like fishery products. 259 were domestic products and 50 were imported. By the origin of imported samples, 17 were from china, 6 from U.S.A., 5 from india and etc. We found out that in acid value, 2 cases of fried snacks(3.9 and 4.4) proved to exceed regulatory guidance(2.0). And among ready-to-eat foods, two kimbap had Staphylococcus aureus, and one had Escherichia coli, which microorganism could cause food poisoning.
This study was conducted the analysis of food safety incidents between January 1998 and October 2008 using media reports. Total number of food safety incident was 569 through the study period. The average of food safety incident per year and month was 51.7and 4.9, respectively. The top 10 food types involved in the lists of food safety incidents were as follows; marine products, meat and meat products, confectionaries, beverages, special nutritional food, teas, noodles, soy and bean paste sauces, and milk and milk products etc. The top 10 single foods also were as follows; ready-to eats, meat, confectionary, health support foods, steeping tea, infant formula, meat products, ginseng products, foods for body weight control etc. Of the total 569 incidents, 247 (43.4%) were related with chemical hazards involving pesticide, food additives etc, biological hazards were 126 (22.1%), and physical hazards were 97 (17.0%) incidents. In analysis stage in the food chain at which breakdown in food safety occurred, primary production were the most common stage with 364 (64%) incidents, and incidents at the manufacture handling and distribution stages were with 151 (26.5%), and 44 (7.7%), respectively. The results of this study can be used as a better data for risk analysis or food safety strategies.
A survey of total aflatoxin levels was conducted on 145 samples(carthamiflos, thujae semen, giycyrrhizae radix et rhizoma) collected in Yakyeang markets in Seoul. Aflatoxin levels were quantified by the immunoaffinity column clean-up method followed by performance liguid chromatography(HPLC)-fluorescence detector(FLD). Aflatoxins were found in 10(6.9%)samples including 5 Arecae semen, 4 Thujae semen, 1 Zizyphi semen with a range of 0.45~79.15 μg/kg. Generally These results show that the contamination level of aflatoxins in Herb Medicines consumed in Korea is high compared with the standard in Korea Herb Medicine Code(10 μg/kg as aflatoxin B1). It is considered that aflatoxin concentration was increased in herb medicines during a storage and drying in herb medicines examined
The consumption of “ready-to-eat” agricultural products is recently increasing and the safety of these agricultural products is forefront of public concerns. The 120 samples of paprikas, strawberries and tomatoes, which are the representative exported agricultural products, were purchased at the department stores and discount stores in Daejeon. And we determined the microbiological and parasitological contamination level of these agricultural products using culture media, multiplex PCR, commercial bacterial detection kit and microscopy, and also evaluated the decontamination method. Mean counts of total aerobic bacteria from these agricultural products ranged from 1.3×104 CFU/g to 1.8×105 CFU/g, and mean counts of coliforms ranged from 1.4×103 CFU/g to 9.6×103 CFU/g. There was no significant difference in the level of bacterial contamination between the agricultural products from department stores and the ones from discount stores. Strawberry showed the highest contamination level for the bacteria and we also found the unidentified parasite eggs. Enterobacter cloacae was the most frequently isolated bacteria strain, but no food poisoning pathogenic bacteria except Staphylococcus aureus was isolated from the products by multiplex PCR. Compared to unwashed products, tab water-washed ones showed 80% decrease of the counts of total aerobic bacteria on the agricultural products, and the rates decreased more by incorporating detergent or ultrasonic wave treatment. We concluded that the biological contamination levels among paprikas, strawberries and tomatoes were the highest in strawberries, but there were not significant difference according to distribution systems.
The reduction rate of pesticide residues on spinach(bifenthrin, metalaxyl, procymidone), chard(bifenthrin, imidacloprid) and mallow(bifenthrin, chlorpyrifos, imidacloprid) were tested on each step of washing and boiling(spinach: 1, 3, 5min., chard: 3, 6, 9min., mallow: 10, 20, 30min.). The reduction rates of bifenthrin and procymidone by washing were 58~64% and 82%, and these were not changed significantly after boiling. In case of imidacloprid, the rates showed 43% on chard and 12% on mallow by washing, and these were highly increased to 94% after boiling. And the reduction rate of metalaxyl and chloropyrifos were 69% and 11% by washing, and 96~98% and 77~79% by boiling. Specifically we monitored the pesticide residues on both boiled vegetable and its water because there are used to cook as soup in Korea. The total residual amounts of imidacloprid and chloropyrifos were effectively removed on both boiled mallow and its water (12% → 34~40%, 11% → 76~79%), however, the other tested pesticides were not changed on pesticide residues when calculated with total amounts on boiled vegetable and its water. These explained the other pesticides were just moved vegetable to water by boiling.