Herein, we compared the epidemiological aspects of pathogenic microbial foodborne disease (FBD) outbreaks in Korea and Japan from 2011 to 2015. In Korea, the cumulative incidence rate (CIR) of FBD was 12.6 per 100,000 individuals, and the patients per outbreak (P/O) was 22.1 for the period from 2011 to 2015. During the same period in Japan, the CIR was 17.4, and the P/O was 21.1. In Korea, outbreaks of FBDs were more common in summer, whereas those in Japan were more frequent in winter. In Korea, microbial agents accounted for 55.6% of all outbreaks, whereas that in Japan was 77.1% of all outbreaks. Moreover, Bacillus cereus, Clostridium spp., pathogenic Escherichia coli, Salmonella spp., and Vibrio parahaemolyticus were more common in Korea than in Japan. In summary, FBD outbreaks showed characteristic differences between Korea and Japan, reflecting differences in culture, food habits, climate, and geography between the two countries.

The purpose of the study was to simplify standard HACCP manual for improving the on-site applicability and increasing the implementation rate of HACCP program for small- and medium-sized dairy farms (SMDF). A survey was carried out in 32 SMDFs using a structured questionnaire. The results indicated that the number of workers had a positive correlation with HACCP certifications (p < 0.05). Most of HACCP non-certified farms (66.7%) were run by two workers with 40-60 cows and milking yields of 1,000-1,500 L per day. Major drawbacks for dairy farmers to implement current HACCP system were the difficulties in daily recording and facility management (40%). On the basis of the survey results, it was suggested that the development of on-site standard HACCP manual and user-friendly record chart with O/X checklist were the most urgent factors to increase HACCP implementation rate. In addition, the alternative third party service for microbial and chemical tests could also be accompanied for small-sized dairy farms.

두 종류의 Cronobacter 선택배지(DFI agar, R&F agar) 의 분유 및 건조호박 내 Cronobacter의 선택 분리능을 realtime PCR법과 함께 비교하였다. 분유에서의 Cronobacter 검출률은 세 가지 방법에서 유의적인 차이를 나타내지 않았으나(p < 0.05), 건조호박의 경우 R&F배지와 real-time PCR법이 DFI에서보다 유의적으로 높은 검출률을 보였다 (p < 0.05). 배지 간 선택성에 있어서도, R&F 선택배지는 건조호박에서 DFI에 비해 유의적으로 높은 선택성을 나타냈다(p < 0.05). Real-time PCR 및 R&F배지의 사용은 분유뿐만 아니라, 건조 호박 등의 높은 경쟁세균총을 갖는 영유아식의 원료로 사용될 수 있는 식품군에서도 Cronobacter를 효과적으로 검출할 수 있는 방법으로 사료된다.

Thirty-one Campylobacter jejuni isolates (22 from various local sources, 9 from imported chicken meats) were subtyped with PFGE and flaA typing to investigate their genetic relatedness. Based on a 90% similarity criterion, 23 and 21 genotypic patterns were formed by PFGE and flaA typing, respectively. The discriminatory indices for PFGE, flaA typing, and a composite analysis of PFGE and flaA typing were 0.9785, 0.9527, and 0.9871, respectively. Similar patterns in composite analysis were observed between sources (cattle and chicken, and cattle and human), indicating that reservoir animals may have been the source of human campylobacteriosis. Therefore, strict hygiene measures from farm to table should be implemented to prevent diseases due to C. jejuni in humans.

The average prevalence rate (PR) for foodborne disease outbreaks (FBDOs) in the first half (F-H) and latter half (L-H) of the decade from 2001 to 2010 in Korea was 14.0 and 16.9 per 100,000 population, respectively. The number of patients per outbreak of foodborne diseases (FBDs) in the F-H of that decade was 57.6 and in the L-H was 25.4 (p < 0.05). A comparison of the 2 periods covered in this study indicates that FBDOs in the L-H most frequently involved restaurants or delis (51.5% of total cases), and in the F-H, this involvement was noted in 34.0% of total cases (p < 0.01). The epidemic patterns of microbial FBDOs show that the overall incidence of outbreaks resulting from 5 of 8 key pathogens including Bacillus cereus (+1.6%), Campylobacter jejuni (+1.5%), Clostridium spp. (+0.7%), pathogenic Escherichia coli (+8.3%), and Norovirus (+14.4%) tended to be higher in the L-H than in the F-H of the decade from 2001 to 2010. Conversely, those caused by the other 3 key agents, including Salmonella spp. ( 9.2%), Staphylococcus aureus ( 2.8%), and Vibrio parahaemolyticus ( 6.4%) were significantly lower in the L-H than in the F-H of the decade. Moreover, in the decade between 2001 and 2010, the number of patients (n) and the PR for microbial FBD increased from the F-H (n = 13,346, PR: 5.6) to the L-H (n = 33,732, PR: 13.8) (p < 0.01).

The effect of pt-I values of 6.5, 6.0, 5.0, and 4.0 on spore germination of Bacillus cereus (B. cereus) was investigated at water activity (a%) values of 0.98, 0.96, 0.94, and 0.90 in a controlled medium at 30°C for 7 days. The best condition for germination of spores of B. cereus was observed at pH 6.5 with aw 0.98. No matter what combination of a and pH is used, a complete inhibition of spore germination was achieved at either a,.. value of 0.90 or pH value of 4.0. Spore germination was also delayed or inhibited at aw 0.98 with pH 4.0, aw 0.96 with pH 5.0, and aw 0.94 with pH 6.5, 6.0, 5.0, or 4.0. The results indicate that the combined inhibitory effects of pH and water activity on the germination of B. cereus spores in controlled medium could be applied to food preservation.

The aim of this study was to evaluate the TEMPOⓇ STA automated most probable number (MPN) system for the enumeration of Staphylococcus aureus (S. aureus) in comparison with a standard culture method. Artificially inoculated food products with S. aureus - triangle kimbap, sliced spring onion, dried filefish fillet, danpatjuk (sweet red-bean porridge with small rice dumplings)- were tested in this study. Twenty-five grams of each of food samples were added into 225 ㎖ of sterilized phosphate buffered saline in a TEMPOⓇ stomacher bag followed by stomaching for 2 min. One milliliter of the stomached sample was added to a bottle of culture medium. Cards were filled and sealed in the automated filler and then were incubated for 24 h at 37℃. After incubation, the cards were placed in the automated TEMPOⓇ reader and MPN results were generated. For comparison with a culture method, decimal dilutions were prepared from the same homogenized samples described above, transferred onto Baird Parker and Baird Parker-Rabbit Plasma Fibrinogen (BP-RPF) agar plates, and then incubated at 37℃ for 24 h. The performance of TEMPOⓇ STA method is equivalent to the culture method using Baird Parker or BP-RPF agar count plate for the enumeration of S. aureus in foods, eliminating a time-consuming and laborious process.

Real-time PCR could help to provide answers to urgent questions about the incidence, prevalence, and epidemiology of currently emerging food-borne bacteria and diseases as identification and detection tools. The objective of this study was carried out to examine several critical parameters that must be optimized when converting from the ABI Prism 7000 SDS platform to the Cepheid SmartCycler Ⅱ so as to directly use the same primer and probe sequences. A lyophilized master mix-OmniMix HS bead, MgCl2 concentration, and PCR cycling conditions were evaluated so as to convert to a new platform, Smartcycler Ⅱ. The best optimal cycling conditions to detect Cronobacter sakazakii on SmartCycler Ⅱ were as follow: initial denaturation at 95℃ for 2 min followed by 45 cycles of 95℃ for 15 s, and 60℃ for 60 s using OmniMix HS bead contained 6 mM MgCl2 concentration. And the Ct value was 16.97 compared to 23.84 of Ct value in ABI Prism 7000 SDS. This result showed that when the several analytical parameters were taken the consideration for optimization, it could be performed assays between real-time PCR platforms. Also it is need of further study to develop the new single multiplex real-time PCR method for determining various Cronobacter spp. including three subspecies, too.

This study was carried out to evaluate the microbiological characteristics of retail chicken meats stored under various conditions. Nine of whole chickens and nine of chicken breasts were used for bacterial analysis. Each chicken meat was divided into subsamples of 25 g each followed by storage at room temperature (25℃), refrigeration temperature (4 ℃), and freezing temperature (—20℃) for 180 min, 5 days, and 3 days, respectively. The standard plate counts were performed for the enumeration of the total aerobic bacteria. The number of aerobic bacteria was gradually increased by 1 log in samples held at the room temperature for 180 min. There was statistical difference in the number of bacteria between at 0 min and at 180 min of storage. For samples stored at 4℃ for 5 days, the number of bacteria was increased from 5.11 to 7.26 log CFU/g in chicken breast and 3.83 to 6.04 log CFU/g in whole chicken with statistical difference. No significant changes were observed in frozen chicken. The results of this study may provide useful information to consumers for proper storage and safe handling of chicken meats.