Microbial distribution as well as content of salt and preservatives in side dishes was investigated by analyzing cell count of viable cells, coliform bacteria and food poisoning bacteria of sliced squid bokum and anchovy bokum, purchased at 17 dift'erent department stores and 2 different traditional markets in Seoul, which are most preferred by many consumers to any other side dishes available in the market. 6.2 × 10³-1.2 × 10^5 cells/g of viable cells was detected in 19 different samples of the sliced squid bokum, among which samples collected at the traditional markets counted the highest number of viable cells. 16 samples of the sliced squid bokum and 14 samples of the anchovy bokum contained 10³-10^8 cells/g of coliform group. However food poisoning bacteria were not detected in all the samples tested. Salt content was 2.42-4.89 %w/w and 2.28-6.46 %w/w for the sliced squid bokum and the anchovy bokum respectively. Analysis of preservatives by HPLC such as sorbic acid, benzoic acid, dehydroacetic acid and another 6 kinds of esters resulted that 1.0× 73.8 mg/100 g of sorbic acid was detected in the 19 samples of the sliced squid bokum, while only 6 samples of the 15 anchovy bokum samples contained sorbic acid.