The purpose of this study was to assess consumption and satisfaction with fresh-cut produce in Korean adults. In this study, an online survey November 9~13, 2020 was conducted with 982 Korean adults age 19~64 (490 males and 492 females) with experience in purchasing fresh-cut produce in the past year. Among all respondents, the percentage with experience in buying ‘washed or peeled vegetables’ was the highest (71.18%), followed by those in buying ‘packaged salads/sprouts/ssam vegetables’ (64.15%), ‘pre-cut fruits/fruit cups’ (59.98%), ‘pre-cut or minced vegetables’ (56.01%), and ‘washed or peeled fruits’ (53.67%), respectively. Among the types of fresh-cut produce, ‘packaged salads/sprouts/ssam vegetables’ showed the highest satisfaction score at 3.73 pts, and the overall satisfaction score of fresh-cut produce consumption was also 3.73 pts. Compared to male respondents, female respondents showed a significantly higher percentage of respondents that purchased ‘packaged salads/sprouts/ssam vegetables’ (p=0.0409), significantly higher satisfaction scores (p=0.0124), and a higher percentage of respondents considering ‘freshness’ important when purchasing (p<0.0001). Additionally, the group with high household income comprised a significantly higher ratio of respondents considering ‘eco-friendly or organic status’ important. The study results may facilitate identify areas for improvement of fresh-cut produce in the future.

신선편의 샐러드와 유기농 채소에 오염되어 있는 식중독균인 B. cereus, S. aureus 그리고 E. coli를 대상으로 살균 소독제와 유기산에 대한 감수성을 평가하여 신선편의 식품의 미생물학적 안전성의 확보를 위한 올바른 세척제와 사용량을 제시하고자 하였다. S. aureus는 2% acetic acid, malic acid, tartaric acid와 1% CaO에 대하여 고농도의 염소계, 과산화수소계 보다 높은 살균 효과를 보였고 E. coli의 경우에는 1% acetic acid 와 CaO처리에 의해 80%의 분리주가 감소하여 50%에탄올과 400 ppm 차아염소산나트륨과 대등한 감소율을 보였다. B. cereus 분리주에 대한 1% CaO, 0.5% acetic acid, 2% malic acid와 tartaric acid 처리는 200 ppm의 차아염소산나트륨보다 높은 감소율을 나타내었고, 1%의 과산화수소와 대등한 감소율을 나타내었다. 본 연구에 따라 천연 물질 유래 살균 소독제인 CaO와 유기산은 기존의 화학적 살균제를 대체할 수 있는 천연 살균 소독제로 활용 될 수 있을 것이고 특히 환경 친화적이고 안전한 유기산은 고품질의 신선편의 채소를 안전성으로 공급하는데 효과적인 것으로 판단되었다.

The purpose of this study was to evaluate microbiological contamination of fresh-cut produce salads and raw cabbage toward climate change. Total aerobic bacteria, coliform and Escherichia coli were monitored to get the contamination levels and E. coli O157:H7, Staphylococcus aureus, Bacillus cereus, Listeria monocytogenes and Salmonella spp. to detect pathogens with risk of foodborne disease from samples. Collection of 360 samples (180 fresh-cut produce salads and 180 raw cabbage), including 60 samples from each area after setting 3 areas depending on annual temperature and annual rainfall. As a result, total aerobic bacteria and coliform group were different was performed areas in raw cabbage but there was no difference between areas in fresh-cut produce salads. In addition foodborne pathogens including E. coli were not isolated from fresh-cut produce salads.

With the rapid growth of fresh-cut produce market, the South Korean fresh-cut industry is facing the challenge of ensuring food safety. As the estimation of the microbial numbers in fresh-cut produce processing lines (tools, and equipment) using the conventional microbiological techniques takes days, so there is a need for faster and easier monitoring methods. This study was conducted to investigate the use of ATP bioluminescence assay to measure the degree of microbial contamination from three actual fresh-cut processing lines. The samples collected from frech-cut vegetables, and fresh-cut fruits processing plants were tested for the estimation of the bacterial number, using the ATP bioluminescence and microbiological methods. The result of former was transferred to log RLU/100 cm2, and that of the latter was transferred to log CFU/100 cm2. A positive linear correlation between the ATP bioluminescence assay value and aerobic-plate count was found for fresh-cut processing lines, with a correlation coefficient of 0.8772 (n=50). The results of this study indicate that ATP bioluminescence assay can be used to monitor microbial contamination in fresh-cut produce processing plants, and can help improve the hygiene therein.