This study aimed to compare food procurement and dietary behavior of single-person households in Korea. A total of 949 single-person households that participated in the 2022 Food Consumption Behavior Survey were divided into three age groups: 20~39 years (n=204), 40~59 years (n=317), and 60~74 years (n=428). Monthly expenditure on eating out was similar for the 20~39 and 40~59 age groups at around 145,000 KRW, while the 60~74 age group spent 79,823 KRW (p<0.001). The frequency of eating out was the highest at 2~3 days per week for the 20~39 age group, with take-out occurring 1 day per week (p<0.01). Regarding online food purchases, 35% of the 20~39 age group bought food online once every two weeks, whereas 40~59 and 60~74 age groups had higher percentages of those buying non-online food (44.7% and 89.0%, respectively, p<0.001). Regarding dietary competency index, healthy eating scores were the highest in the 60~74 age group (p<0.01). As the dietary competency index increased, monthly expenditure on take-out decreased for the 40~59 age group while satisfaction with current diet increased across all age groups (p<0.01). This study is expected to be helpful for developing nutrition education materials tailored to different life stages.

The objective of this study was to categorize consumers' food-related lifestyles into various types and discern the differences in consumer preferences for locally sourced ingredients in Home Meal Replacement (HMR) based on food-related lifestyles. The online survey was conducted from December, 2020, involving 474 adults who registered with Macro Mill Embrain. Statistical analyses, including frequency analysis, descriptive statistics, factor analysis, K-means cluster analysis, and one-way ANOVA were applied to the collected data. The findings revealed the ‘convenience-seeking group,’ the 'high interest in food-related lifestyle group,' and the ‘health and taste-seeking group.’ The ‘convenience-seeking group’ showed a high proportion of respondents (65%) didn’t check the origin, whereas the ’high interest in food-related lifestyle group’ (57.5%) and the ‘health and taste-seeking group’ (66.7) had higher proportions of respondents who checked the origin. Regarding the reasons for preferring locally sourced HMR, all three clusters emphasized safety, hygiene, and fresh ingredients as the most critical factors. This study represented the first exploration into consumer preferences for HMR using locally sourced ingredients, segmented by their food-related lifestyles. The findings provided valuable foundational information for the development of HMR using locally sourced ingredients and could be applied to decisions in the food industry and related policy-making.

To determine the differences in food quality between fish fed a low fish meal diet containing black soldier fly (Hermetia illucens) instead of fish meal and those fed a general fish meal diet, we analyzed the approximate components, mineral content, amino acid composition, fatty acid composition, color, and texture of Flounder (Paralichthys olivaceus). The analysis of approximate components showed no difference between the two samples, except for moisture content. Mineral contents were measured in the order of K, P, Na, and Mg in both samples, with no difference except for phosphorus (P). A total of 16 amino acids were detected in both samples, with no significant differences in their composition. Additionally, 17 types of free amino acids were identified, with no significant differences between the two samples. The fatty acid composition consisted of 13 fatty acids, with palmitic acid, DHA, and oleic acid being the most prominent, although slight differences in content were observed. The color and texture also showed no differences between the two samples. Overall, there were no significant differences in chemical components or physical characteristics, so it was judged to be insignificant in terms of food science.

This study aimed to understand the needs of consumers in the meal kit market and determine the impact of meal kit selection attributes according to the consumption behavior of single-person households on purchase decisions and satisfaction. A summary of the results of this study is as follows: First, the most frequent purchase frequency of meal kits was 2 to 3 times a month. The reason for purchase was that it was easy to consume, and the most common purpose of purchase was for consumption. Second, four factors, including health, convenience, taste, and economics, were derived as a result of a factor analysis of meal kit selection attributes. The difference in meal kit selection attributes according to age groups revealed that those in their 20s had high scores with respect to health and taste factors, and economic factors appeared statistically significant. Third, an analysis of the meal kit product selection attributes showed that health and taste factors had a positive influence on satisfaction. This can be said to reflect the tendency of single-person households to give weightage to healthy eating and to purchase products that can be consumed conveniently.

본 연구에서는 경기도 내 유통 중인 간편조리세트 55건 내 농·축·수산물 원재료의 미생물 오염도를 조사하였다. 55 건의 간편조리세트 중 농산물이 원재료로 들어가는 제품 은 48건, 축산물이 원재료로 들어가는 제품은 43건, 수산 물이 원재료로 들어가는 제품은 16건이었다. 농·축·수산물 에서 일반세균은 100%의 검출률을 보였으며, 일반세균 평균 검출량은 농산물 6.57 log CFU/g, 축산물 4.60 log CFU/g, 수 산물 5.47 log CFU/g으로 나타났다. 농·축·수산물에서 대 장균군은 각각 81.25%, 69.77%, 43.75%의 검출률을 보였 고, 대장균군 평균 검출량은 농산물 2.83 log CFU/g, 축산 물 1.34 log CFU/g, 수산물 1.12 log CFU/g으로 나타났다. 대 장균은 13건(30.23%)의 축산물에서 0.70-2.36 log CFU/g 범위로 검출된 반면, 수산물에서는 1건(6.25%)만 검출되 었고, 농산물에서는 검출되지 않았다. 농·축·수산물에서 진 균은 각각 97.92%, 93.02%, 93.75%의 검출률을 보였고, 진균 평균 검출량은 농산물 3.82 log CFU/g, 축산물 2.92 log CFU/g, 수산물 2.82 log CFU/g으로 나타났다. 농·축· 수산물에서 식중독균은 각각 35.42%, 37.21%, 31.25%의 분리율을 보였고, 바실루스 세레우스, 살모넬라균 등 7종 의 45개 식중독균을 분리하였다. 간편조리세트로 인한 식 중독 사고 예방을 위하여 세척, 충분한 가열 섭취 및 조 리과정 중 교차오염에 대한 주의가 필요하다.

본 실험에서는 외인성 효소 첨가제 및 혼합 세균 배양을 통한 고상발효(Solid-state fermentation, SSF)가 채종박(Rapeseed meal, RSM)의 체외건물소화율(In vitro dry matter digestibility, IVDMD) 및 단쇄지방산(Short chain fatty acid) 생성에 미치는 영향을 조사하기 위해 수행되었다. 외인성 효소 칵테일(첨가 및 미첨가) 및 RSM에 대한 SSF(발효 및 비발효)를 나타내는 2 x 2 요인 설계가 적용되었다. 3-step 돼지 소화율 모델을 적용하여 채종박의 건물 소화율을 분석하였으며, 72시간 대장발효 후 상층액을 수집하여 단쇄지방산 생성량을 분석한 후 칼로리 단위로 변환하여 가소화에너지 소화율을 분석하였다. 소장 (IVDMDh) 및 전장 (IVDMDt) 건물소화율에서는 고상발효된 채종박이 더 높게 나타났다 (각각 p < 0.01). 마찬가지로, 외인성 효소 첨가제 처리구에서 채종박의 소장 소화율(IVDMDh)이 증가하는 경향을 나타냈다(p = 0.06). Acetic acid 및 butyric acid의 생산은 대조구에 비해 고상발효 처리 시 유의하게 더 생산되었으며 (각각 p < 0.01), 이는 총 단쇄지방산의 생산 증가 경향을 나타냈다(p = 0.09). 에너지 소화율에서는 채종박의 고상발효 및 외인성 효소제 첨가가 유의적으로 높게 나타났다 ( p < 0.01). 그러므로 채종박의 고상발효 처리는 단백질 이용성을 비롯한 영양적 가치를 향상시키는데 효과적이라고 사료된다.

This study evaluated the consumers’ demands and points of improvement for restaurant meal replacement through importance–performance analysis by the restaurant meal replacement segment market using food involvement. The results were as follows. First, after segmenting the restaurant meal replacement market using food involvement, it was classified into three markets (multiple involvements, exploration-oriented, and product quality-oriented). Second, an analysis of the importance of restaurant meal replacement selection attributes revealed taste, sanitation, quality, freshness, price, saving time, texture, ingredients, preparation process, and quantity to be highly important. An analysis of the differences according to the market type revealed the multiple involvement type to be more important than other groups, considering the restaurant meal replacement selection attribute element. Third, an analysis of the importance-performance analysis of restaurant meal replacement selection attributes revealed that quantity and price as the selection attributes that needed to be improved first in all three markets. In addition, in the multiple involvement type, food additives appeared as a selection attribute requiring priority improvement, revealing the characteristics of a market that cares about diet and health.

To investigate residual pesticide levels in agricultural products contained in Meal-kits, 27 Meal-kit products were collected from marts, Meal-kit shops, and online stores in Incheon City, South Korea. Seventy-six vegetable and thirty-seven mushroom products were analyzed for residual levels of 339 pesticides. Residual pesticides were detected in 23 out of 76 vegetables and were not present in the 37 mushroom products. The residual pesticide detection rate was 20.4% (23/ 113 cases). The pesticides famoxadone 0.034 mg/kg (standard: 0.01 mg/kg or less, PLS) and fenpyroximate 0.302 mg/kg (standard: 0.01 mg/kg or less, PLS) exceeded their maximum residue levels (MRL). This survey revealed that various types of pesticides remain in agricultural products in Meal-kits. Due to the nature of Meal-kit products, there is no separate standard for residual pesticides in agricultural products. Therefore, continuous monitoring of residual pesticides is necessary.

The purpose of this study was to analyse factors related to Home Meal Replacement (HMR) use among university students and to determine the dietary quality according to its consumption. A survey on the consumption of HMR and Nutrition Quotient (NQ) was conducted from September to November 2021. The study included 232 university students (88 males, 144 females) from Chungcheong. The proportion of consumption at least once a week was 71.55% for ready-to-eat foods, 55.60% for ready-to-cook foods, 40.95% for fresh-cut products, and 21.12% for meal-kits. The preference ratings were as follows: ready-to-eat foods, 3.77 out of 5 points, meal-kits, 3.53 points, fresh-cut products, 3.52 points, and ready-to-cook foods, 3.45 points. In terms of satisfaction, convenience (4.06 out of 5 points), taste (3.71 points), variety (3.67 points), and food hygiene (3.62 points) were rated the highest. The scores in the moderation NQ were significantly lower in the groups that consumed ready-to-eat foods (p=0.0002), ready-to-cook foods (p=0.0002), and meal-kits (p=0.0068) at least once a week compared to the groups that consumed them less than once a week. In conclusion, the results will serve as basic data for nutrition education for proper consumption of HMR among university students.

In this study, the Extended Theory of Planned Behavior (ETPB) was applied to analyze consumers’ intention to purchase meal kits. The perception of ESG management practiced by companies was used as a moderating variable to investigate its influence and moderating effects between each variable. An online survey was conducted over 4 days in January 2023 on consumers aged 20 years or older who had purchased meal kits within 6 months. Hypotheses were tested using IBM SPSS Statistics 22.0 and AMOS 24.0 programs with an effective sample size of 324 copies (100%). Attitude, subjective norm, perceived behavioral control, perceived sustainable package, and price sensitivity of the theory of planned behavior toward meal kit products had a significant positive effect on purchase intention, and all research hypotheses were accepted. The moderating effect of consumers' perceptions of ESG management practiced by companies had a positive and significant effect on attitude and perceived behavioral control.

Technological breakthroughs, combined with the demographic challenges of an aging population and the aftermath of the COVID-19 pandemic, spur new business opportunities in the service robot industry. From a management perspective, these technologies are positively evaluated in terms of increasing productivity, new business opportunities, and financial benefits (Belanche et al., 2020). However, although automation and robotics have already gained attention in the tourism and hospitality industry, research on their use in restaurants and the customer's attitude toward these new service solutions is still limited (Berezina et al., 2019; Ivanov et al., 2019; Kuo et al., 2017).

The purpose of this study was to examine changes in serving frequency of elementary school meal before and after the COVID-19 pandemic. Number of menus provided in June and July of 2019 and 2020 were compared for 300 elementary schools in Korea. As a result, the serving frequency of la carte and dessert was increased after COVID-19. In addition, frequencies of main dishes such as pork cutlet, chicken, sweet and sour pork, hamburger steak, and so on using processed food were increased after COVID-19. Because of the longer serving time due to staggered serving, cook's working time for serving meals became longer. Therefore, it was judged that the number of servings of processed food was increased rather than the menu with a large amount of preprocessing work. Moreover, among desserts, fruits showed increased serving frequency. Serving frequencies for juice and dairy products were also increased. However, increased servings of juice and dairy products could increase sugar intake. Thus, a careful plan for menu composition is needed to provide balanced nutrients to students under emergency situations such as an infectious disease.

Sustainable and healthy diet is a challenge in recent world. Despite the global depletion of water resources, Korea has no system for controlling its water footprint. This study established the water footprint tables of Korean food using the Water Footprint Network databases, and applied them into two meal plans for 19~64 year-old adults recommended in the Dietary Reference Intakes for Koreans 2020. Nut, oil, and meat’s water footprints were higher and those of fruit and vegetable were lower. Sesame oil had the highest water footprint of 21,793 L/kg and pineapple had the lowest domestic water footprint of 102 L/kg. Water footprint of one serving size of beef was 925 L, that of chicken was 260 L, and those of soybean were 43 L in global and 81 L in domestic. The water footprint of the recommended 2,400 kcal meal plan was 2,882 L, and that of 1,900 kcal meal plan was 1,915 L. The water resources can be saved by choosing food with lower water footprint. The results of this study can be used in the further researches for more sustainable and healthier Korean diet.

This study was conducted to explore the change in the market issues on HMR (Home Meal Replacements) using local foods after the COVID-19 outbreak. Online text data were collected from internet news, social media posts, and web documents before (from January 2016 to December 2019) and after (from January 2020 to November 2022) the COVID- 19 outbreak. TF-IDF analysis showed that ‘Trend’, ‘Market’, ‘Consumption’, and ‘Food service industry’ were the major keywords before the COVID-19 outbreak, whereas ‘Wanju-gun’, ‘Distribution’, ‘Development’, and ‘Meal-kit’ were main keywords after the COVID-19 outbreak. The results of topic modeling analysis and categorization showed that after the COVID-19 outbreak, the ‘Market’ category included ‘Non-face-to-face market’ instead of ‘Event,’ and ‘Delivery’ instead of ‘Distribution’. In the ‘Product’ category, ‘Marketing’ was included instead of ‘Trend’. Additionally, in the ‘Support’ category, ‘Start-up’ and ‘School food service’ appeared as new topics after the COVID-19 outbreak. In conclusion, this study showed that meaningful change had occurred in market issues on HMR using local foods after the COVID-19 outbreak. Therefore, governments should take advantage of such market opportunity by implementing policy and programs to promote the development and marketing of HMR using local foods.

This study was conducted to investigate the optimum supplementation ratio when replacing cotton seed meal with rapeseed meal for cultivating oyster mushrooms. The chemical properties among the treatments were pH 4.5~4.7, total carbon content was 46.3~46.5%, total nitrogen content was 1.6~1.7%, and carbon-nitrogen ratio was 27.0~27.8. These did not differ significantly from the control. Mycelial growth was 85.1 mm (Heuktari), and 72.8 mm (Suhan-1Ho) in medium containing 5% rapeseed meal, with no significant difference in mycelial density between cultivars. Fruiting body characteristics are as follows: In 'Heuktari', the color of the pileus was darker than control with an L value of 32.5, and pileus thickness and diameter were 3.2 mm and 27.6 mm, respectively. Stipe length and diameter were 86.0 mm and 9.1 mm, respectively. Valid stipe number per bottle (1,100 cc) was 25.9, and a yield of 189.7 g/1,100 cc was recorded in mixed medium containing 5% rapeseed meal (higher than control). In mixed medium containing 10% rapeseed meal, the yield was 184.5 g/1,100 cc (comparable to control). In 'Suhan-1Ho', supplemented with 5% rapeseed meal, pileus color was darker than control color, with an L value of 28.8. Pileus thickness was 4.5 mm. Stipe diameter was 12.3 mm (higher than control), and yield was 145.5 g/1,100 cc (comparable to control).

The study was aimed to investigate the operational meal costs by kindergarten size in Seoul and to analyze recognition for optimal meal prices. A survey (31.6% recovery rate) was conducted on all kindergartens (779 kindergartens) in Seoul on April 2021 using descriptive analysis, t-test, and dispersion method. A price sensitivity measurement (psm) method was used to determine optimal meal prices. Result showed an average food cost for kindergartens of 2,647 won, an average labor cost of 605 won, an average operating cost of 146 won, and the total meal cost of 3,506 won. Total meal cost decreased with increasing kindergarten size (p<0.001). On the other hand, kindergartens with more students decreased the ratio of food cost to total meal cost, and operating cost and labor costs (p<0.001) increased. The optimal price of kindergarten operators' meal cost (OPP) was KRW 3,673. Furthermore, the analysis showed the sensitivity of operators' meal costs to kindergarten size was insignificant.