The poultry red mite (PRM), Dermanyssus gallinae, is one of the most important external parasites in the poultry industry. PRM adheres to birds’ bodies, and its hematophagy causes anemia and itching, and reducing egg production (~20%). Fipronil is a toxic pesticide used to control PRM. Thus, an environmentally friendly alternative control agent is needed. In this study, the effectiveness of various environmentally friendly PRM control measures including an acaricide consisting of synthetic silica, clove extracts, garlic extracts, and a probiotic solution were evaluated, comparing them to a combined treatment using the chemical acaricides. Each agent was tested in vitro using two approaches, in which PRMs were either added to environments containing acaricide, or sprayed in situ. Within 10 hours of inoculation, all the environmentally friendly acaricides except for the probiotic solution killed or rendered immotile significantly more mites than the control, normal saline (p < 0.05). The performance of the environmentally friendly acaricides, except for synthetic silica, was significantly weaker than that of commercial chemical acaricides. (p < 0.05). Further tests to determine the optimal concentration of amorphous synthetic silica agent for complete PRM control found this to be 400 g/L. PRM motility following treatment showed the same pattern: the synthetic silica agent and chemical acaricide killed mites, while application of other environmentally friendly agents resulted in living, but immotile, insects, or those with reduced motility. As a result, these environmentally friendly acaricides, especially the synthetic silica agent, could be used as alternatives to chemical acaricides for PRM control.

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.

본 연구는 칼슘과 철 그리고 철과 아연의 상호작용과 신뢰성있는 영양정보를 제공하기 위해 영양강조표시제품중 칼슘, 철, 아연의 함량을 분석하고 표시량과 분석값을 비교하였다. 칼슘, 철, 아연을 강조표시한 제품(시리얼, 과자, 두유, 초콜릿가공품, 기타코코아가공품, 당류가공품, 과줆채음료, 고형차) 총 42건을 수거하였으며 칼슘, 철, 아연은 무기성분의 건식분해법으로 전 처리한 후 Inductively Coupled Plasma Spectrometer (ICP)로 실험하였다. 칼슘이 강조표시된 제품 42건에 대한 표시량 비율은 87~176%이 었으며, 철이 강조표시된 제품 13건에 대한 표시량 비율은 84~167%, 아연이 강조표시된 제품 6건에 대한 표시량비율은 98~275%였다. 모든 분석값이 표시량 대비 80% 이상으로 식품 등의 표시기준을 충족하였다. 칼슘과 철의 상호작용은 한국인의 칼슘 섭취가 1일 권장량의 68.7% 수준으로 부족하므로 칼슘의 과다섭취로 인한 철의 흡수방해는 우려할 만한 상황은 아닌 것으로 보인다. 또한, 분석한 영양강조표시제품의 철과 아연의 함량 비율이 1.53:1이 최대였으므로 철의 과다섭취로 인한 아연의 흡수방해는 우려할 만한 상황은 아니었다. 그러나 업체에서는 칼슘, 철, 아연을 강조한제품을 생산할 시에 영양소의 상호작용을 고려하여 생산을 해야 할 것이고 소비자에게 정확한 영양정보를 제공하고 적정량의 영양섭취를 위해서는 지속적인 모니터링을 통해 식품표시에 대한 주기적인 관리가 필요할 것으로 생각된다.

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).

In this study, two commercial PCR and ELISA test kits were examined for identification of eight animal species (beef, pork, chicken, duck, turkey, goat, lamb, and horse) from raw meat and meat products in Korea. The detection limit in RAW meat ELISA kit® on three types of meat samples blended with beef, pork and chicken, demonstrated that all meat species were differentiable down to 0.2%. RAW meat ELISA kit® on animal species resulted in differentiation rate of 94.5% for beef, 93.3% for pork, 90% for lamb, and 100% for chicken, duck, turkey, goat, and horse. In contrast, Powercheck Animal Species ID PCR kitTM resulted in 100% specificity at 0.05% limit of detection for all meat species. The detection limit of Cooked Meat ELISA kit® on mixed meat samples heat-treated with different temperatures and times, resulted in 0.1% for all heat-treated mixed meat except for chicken at 1.0%. Additionally, ELISA kit on sixty meat products resulted in specificity of 31.8% for ham, 13.6% for sausages, and 12.5% for ground processed products, and relatively low rate for more than 2 types of mixed meats. On the contrary, meat species differentiation using PCR kit showed higher percentage than that using ELISA kit®: 50.0% for ham, 41.7% for sausages, and 28.6% for ground processed meat. Futhermore, PCR kit on 54 dried beef meats detected pork genes in 13 products whereas ELISA kit showed negative results for all products. Hence, the possibility of cross-contamination during manufacturing process was investigated, and it was found that identical tumblers, straining trays, cutters and dryers were used in both beef and pork jerky production line, suggesting the inclusion of pork genes in beef products due to cross-contamination. In this study, PCR and ELISA test kits were found to be excellent methods for meat species differentiation in raw meat and heat-processed mixed meat. However, lower differentiation rate demonstrated in case of meat processed products raised the possibility of inclusion of other species due to cross-contamination during manufacturing process.

Salmonella species is one of the major bacterial agents that causes gastrointestinal disease in pigs. Natural antimicrobials derived from plants may be alternative therapeutics that could replace currently used antibiotics in the control of infectious disease. In this study, we assessed the antibacterial activity of Oenothera biennis L. extract against Salmonella Typhimurium both in vitro and in vivo. O. biennis L. extract had a strong inhibitory effect on S. Typhimurium in vitro, reducing bacterial growth by 87%. For the in vivo experiment, 16 post-weaned pigs were divided into 4 groups consisting of 4 pigs each: an uninfected, untreated negative control group; an untreated positive control group that was infected with S. Typhimurium; and two groups that were infected with S. Typhimurium and treated with either 0.1% or 0.5% O. biennis L. extract. Pigs were followed for 21 days after infection, and their body weight, daily gains, feed conversion ratio (FCR), and feed efficiency (FE) were monitored. The pigs treated with O. biennis L. extract had significantly higher daily gains than the positive control group (p<0.05). The O. biennis L. extract-treated pigs also exhibited better weight gain and FE, as well as a lower FCR and less severe diarrhea, than the positive controls but these results were not statistically significant. Our study demonstrates that O. biennis L. extract has antibacterial effects against S. Typhimurium, both in vitro and in vivo, and that these antibacterial effects may produce better growth performance in pigs infected with S. Typhimurium.

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.

Vibrio parahaemolyticus (V. parahaemolyticus) has been recognized as a significant food-borne pathogen around the world. In this study, we investigated the prevalence and antimicrobial resistance of V. parahaemolyticus isolated from raw fishes. A total of 64 samples of raw fishes purchased from a traditional seafood market in Seoul, Korea. were examined for the presence of V. parahaemolyticus using intestines, gills, and fins. Twenty five grams of all samples were enriched in 225ml of alkaline peptone water at 37℃ for 24h and then streaked onto thiosulfate citrate bile sucrose agar. Suspected colonies were inoculated into triple sugar iron agar for biochemical screening test and were finally confirmed with API 20NE strip. Antimicrobial resistance tests were performed with disc diffusion method in accordance with National Committee for Clinical Laboratory Standard. Thirty three V. parahaemolyticus strains were isolated from raw fishes among 33 out of 64 (51.6%). Among 33 isolates, 16 isolates (48.5%) were resistant to ampicillin, 7 isolates (21.2%) were resistant to amikacin, and all isolates were not resist to other antibiotics such as amoxicillin & clavulanic acid, sulfamethoxazole & trimethopenem, ciprofloxacin, cefotaxime and cefepime. Although the prevalence of V. parahaemolyticus was high in raw fishes compared to other studies, antimicrobial resistance rate of the isolates was relatively low. These results could be useful information for risk assessment of V. parahaemolyticus in raw fishes.