Blood from livestock is a common by-product which is obtained in industrial slaughterhouses. Blood is mainly composed of three fractions, red blood cells (RBCs), white blood cells (WBCs) and plasma. Plasma contains about 8% proteins, which is mainly composed of albumin, globulins and fibrinogen. Hemoglobin is the major protein within whole blood including RBC. These proteins isolated from animal blood have been used in variety of industry such as food, medical, pharmaceutics, animal feed and laboratory. Initially, blood is sterile in healthy animals thus adequate blood collecting system helps to minimize the risk of contamination. In Europe, closed-draining systems are adopted and a high-quality blood product is produced. European Union lays down health rules as regard animal by-products and derived products called Regulation (EC) No 1774/2002 which is improved to No 1069/2009. This regulation lays down strict animal and public health rules for the blood collection, transport, storage, handling, processing and use or disposal of all animal by-products. In spite of the significant using of blood from livestock, almost blood from slaughtering is considered a waste except only small part for use and causes a serious environmental pollution in Korea. Because of the environmental pollution by blood from slaughterhouse, the great expense is loosed, and blood-related products are small and are imported from foreign countries in Korea. For successful blood utilization, suitable infrastructure facilities are needed to control microbial contamination of blood from slaughterhouses and more specific plans on animal blood control may be established at the same time.

In recent years, the national surveillance network reported the isolation of Enterobacter sakazakii and coliform from powdered infant formula (PIF). PIF means a breast-milk substitute specially manufactured to satisfy the nutritional requirements of infants during the first month. PIF is not sterile infant food and may be intrinsically contaminated with pathogens, such as E. sakazakii and Salmonella enterica that can cause serious illness in infants. Intrinsic contamination of PIF with E. sakazakii and S. enterica has been a cause of infection and illness in infants. E. sakazakii is an opportunistic pathogens and more commonly found than S. enterica in manufacturing environment. Even low levels of contamination of E. sakazakii and S. enterica in PIF were considered to be a risk factor. Enterobacteriaceae showed the high prevalence and some Enterobacteriaceae causing disease were detected. The infant food industry should be encouraged to reduce the concentration and prevalence of E. sakazakii in both the manufacturing environment and PIF. The presence of these microorganisms in PIF may occur as a results of contamination through ingredients during PIF manufacturing process and from the processing environment during packaging. In order to ensure that ingredients and packaging materials are microbiologically suitable, PIF manufacturer need to be selection of supplier according to stringent criteria (e.g. HACCP, good hygienic practices) and testing of ingredients especially colostrum. In conclusion, it is continually necessary to monitor the potential pathogens and reduce them to improve the microbial quality of non-sterilized PIF.

The epidemiology of reported food-borne disease (FBD) outbreaks from 2001 to 2008 in Korea and Japan were compared in this study. The outbreak rate of FBD in Japan was significantly higher although the average number of patient in each outbreak in Korea was much higher. In both countries, summer was the season when most FBD outbreaks occurred. The comparison study revealed that FBD outbreaks in spring were more frequent in Korea, and outbreaks in winter were more frequent in Japan. Almost half of FBD outbreaks were observed at restaurants in both countries while FBD outbreaks at schools and work-places in Korea were much higher than in Japan. The most frequent cause of bacterial FBDs in Korea was pathogenic Escherichia coli followed by Salmonella species. On the other hand, Campylobacter jejuni was the most frequent source of bacterial FBDs in Japan. Norovirus, which is related to uncontrolled hand hygiene and involvement of ill food workers, was the main cause of viral FBDs in both countries. In conclusion, there are common epidemiological characteristics as well as several differences in FBD outbreaks of Korea and Japan. These are suggested to be originated from the characteristic of climate, food sources, and life styles in two countries. Establishment of stricter control and surveillance system for FBD outbreaks are required for prevention and reduction of FBD outbreaks in both countries.