The consumption of ready-to-eat side dishes is rapidly growing in South Korea. These foods are particularly vulnerable to microbiological contamination as they are often cooked without any treatment, such as heating or stored at room temperature after cooking. Hence, in 2022, we analyzed the ready-to-eat side dishes sold in Gyeongsangnam-do, South Korea for microbiological contamination. We collected 100 samples from supermarkets in 7 cities, and then examined them for presence of food-borne pathogens and sanitary indicator bacteria. In the analysis of the food-borne pathogens, Bacillus cereus and Clostridium perfringens were isolated from 51 samples (51.0%) and 3 samples (3.0%), respectively. However, both quantitatively met the Korean Food Standards Codex. Genes of five different enterotoxins and one emetic toxin were analyzed from the 51 isolated B. cereus strains. We detected enterotoxin entFM (100.0%), nheA (94.1%), hblC (58.8%), cytK (56.9%), and bceT (41.2%) in 51 isolates, and emetic toxin gene, CER, in only one (2.0%) isolate. We did not detect C. perfringens toxin gene (cpe) that causes food poisoning in any one of the three C. perfringens isolates. In the case of sanitary indicator bacteria, Kimchi had the highest levels of total aerobic bacteria and coliforms, followed by Saengchae, Jeotgal, Jeolim, Namul, and Jorim, respectively. We counted total aerobic bacteria at two different storage temperatures (4oC and 20oC) to determine the effect of storage temperature. When stored at 20oC, total aerobic bacteria count increased in most of the ready-to-eat side dishes, except for Jeotgal. This result conclusively shows the need for refrigerating the ready-to-eat side dishes after purchase. Further research is needed to assess the risk and safety of the ready-to-eat side dishes available in the market and determine appropriate safety management practices.

2019년 경기도내 전통시장, 대형마트, 반찬전문점에서 수거한 반찬류의 미생물 품질을 조사하였다. 반찬류 108 건의 식중독 원인균을 검사하였고, 그 중 75건에 대해서는 구매 장소별, 조리 방법별 위생세균 검사를 진행하였 다. 14건(12.9%)에서 Bacillus cereus가 검출되었으며, 나머지 94건에서는 식중독 원인균이 검출되지 않았다. 위생 세균 검사에서 일반세균의 평균 검출량(범위)은 전통시장이 5.8 log CFU/g (3.0-8.2 log CFU/g), 대형마트는 4.3 log CFU/g(2.3-7.8 log CFU/g), 반찬전문점에서는 3.8 log CFU/g (0.0- 6.9 log CFU/g)로 나타났으며, 구입 장소에 따른 유의적인 차이가 있었다(Ρ <0.05). 전통시장의 일반세균수와 대장균 군은 대형마트, 반찬점과 통계적으로 유의한 차이가 있었고, 생채류, 나물류, 볶음류, 젓갈류, 조림류 순으로 일반 세균수와 대장균군이 높게 검출되었다. 콩나물 무침의 보 관온도별 일반세균수의 변화는 냉장보관(4oC)에서는 72시간 경과에서도 큰 변화가 없었으나, 상온보관(20oC) 및 고 온보관(35oC) 시 구입 후 각각 9시간, 6시간 경과 시 부패의 가능성이 제기되어 구입 즉시 냉장보관 할 것을 권장하며, 제품을 판매하는 시설에서도 냉장보관을 하여야 할 것이다.