The purpose of this study was to identify obstacles by surveying dieticians' perception in implementing Generic HACCP Plan for school foodservice operations from 2001. The survey was conducted in five areas; Seoul, Kyoung-gi Province, In-cheon, Kwang-ju and Dae-jeon. Five hundred and sixty questionnaire were sent by the e-mail address and the local school dietician's Community Board on the internet, 263 were returned. Two hundred and forty were returned by E-mail, return rate was 42.86%. Twenty three were received by the local school dietician's Community Board on the internet. The obstacles were grouped of six fields and indicated thirteen factors in implementation of the Generic HACCP Plan for school foodservice. The six fields were 'status of cooperation within HACCP team', 'cooperation with the external people' such as teachers, food suppliers, student's parents, 'understanding HACCP system of the dieticians', 'hygiene facilities', 'training & educating employees', and 'difficulty of monitoring'. To assess the factor as a obstacle we used Likert's scale; 5-agree strongly, 4-agree, 3-medial, 2-don't agree, 1-don't agree strongly. Results of this study are as follows; 1) The scores of thirteen factors indicated as obstacles were over 3(medial) except 'lack of dietician's understanding about HACCP System(2.86+/-0.97)'. Also only about 63% dieticians recognized that as an obstacle factor. 2) 'Deficiency of hygiene facilities(4.41+/-0.76), 'lack of teachers' cooperation(4.23+/-0.77)', 'inadequacy of the kitchen lay-out(4.19+/-0.95)' and 'lack of training and educating program for employees(3.97+/-0.85)' scored most highly. Results from this study show that financial resources and educating system are very important to settle down HACCP system for School Foodservices successfully.
Electronic Mail ; Gwangju ; Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Points* ; Humans ; Hygiene ; Incheon ; Internet ; Nutritionists ; Parents ; Surveys and Questionnaires ; Seoul

BACKGROUND/OBJECTIVES: The objective of this study was to investigate food allergens and prevalence rates of food allergies, followed by comparison of consumer attitudes and preferences regarding food allergy labeling by diagnosis of food allergies. SUBJECTS/METHODS: A total of 543 individuals living in Seoul and Gyeonggi area participated in the survey from October 15 to 22 in 2013. RESULTS: The results show that the prevalence of doctor-diagnosed food allergies was 17.5%, whereas 6.4% of respondents self-reported food allergies. The most common allergens of doctor-diagnosed and self-reported food allergy respondents were peaches (30.3%) and eggs (33.3%), respectively, followed by peanuts, cow's milk, and crab. Regarding consumer attitudes toward food labeling, checking food allergens as an item was only significantly different between allergic and non-allergic respondents among all five items (P < 0.001). All respondents reported that all six items (bold font, font color, box frame, warning statement, front label, and addition of potential allergens) were necessary for an improved food allergen labeling system. PLSR analysis determined that the doctor-diagnosed group and checking of food allergens were positively correlated, whereas the non-allergy group was more concerned with checking product brands. CONCLUSIONS: An effective food labeling system is very important for health protection of allergic consumers. Additionally, government agencies must develop policies regarding prevalence of food allergies in Korea. Based on this information, the food industry and government agencies should provide clear and accurate food labeling practices for consumers.
Allergens ; Arachis ; Surveys and Questionnaires ; Diagnosis* ; Eggs ; Food Hypersensitivity* ; Food Industry ; Food Labeling ; Government Agencies ; Gyeonggi-do ; Korea ; Milk ; Ovum ; Prevalence ; Prunus persica ; Seoul

BACKGROUND/OBJECTIVES: Most consumers are able to recognize allergenic foods. However, the frequency of checking such foods is reportedly low, resulting in higher prevalence of food-related allergic reactions in Korea compared to other countries. Thus, this study was performed to investigate the overall perception of allergenic food labeling and its practice level in food manufacturing company employees. SUBJECTS/METHODS: The survey was administered to food safety employees and food development teams at food companies located in metropolitan areas. A total of 399 (93.8%) valid samples were used in the final analysis. Statistical analyses, including Frequency Analysis, t-test, Anova, PCA (Principal Component Analysis), and Pearson Correlation Analysis using SPSS ver. 21.0, were performed. RESULTS: The correct answer rate in the analysis of allergy-related knowledge level ranged from 15.0% to 89.7%. Analysis of differences in allergy-related perception by knowledge level showed significant differences in introduction of a food recall system, strengthening of relevant laws and regulations, content labeling, description of substitutional food, and differentiated package by age. CONCLUSIONS: It can be concluded that labeling of allergenic foods should be made easier and more convenient for checking by employees, developers, and consumers, and it is necessary to provide contents through the development of publicity, guidelines, or APP along with labeling.
Food Labeling ; Food Safety ; Hypersensitivity ; Jurisprudence ; Korea ; Passive Cutaneous Anaphylaxis ; Prevalence ; Social Control, Formal

Ursolic acid (UA) supplementation was previously shown to improve skeletal muscle function in resistance-trained men. This study aimed to determine, using the same experimental paradigm, whether UA also has beneficial effects on exercise-induced skeletal muscle damage markers including the levels of cortisol, B-type natriuretic peptide (BNP), myoglobin, creatine kinase (CK), creatine kinase-myocardial band (CK-MB), and lactate dehydrogenase (LDH) in resistance-trained men. Sixteen healthy participants were randomly assigned to resistance training (RT) or RT+UA groups (n=8 per group). Participants were trained according to the RT program (60~80% of 1 repetition, 6 times/week), and the UA group was additionally given UA supplementation (450 mg/day) for 8 weeks. Blood samples were obtained before and after intervention, and cortisol, BNP, myoglobin, CK, CK-MB, and LDH levels were analyzed. Subjects who underwent RT alone showed no significant change in body composition and markers of skeletal muscle damage, whereas RT+UA group showed slightly decreased body weight and body fat percentage and slightly increased lean body mass, but without statistical significance. In addition, UA supplementation significantly decreased the BNP, CK, CK-MB, and LDH levels (p<0.05). In conclusion, UA supplementation alleviates increased skeletal muscle damage markers after RT. This finding provides evidence for a potential new therapy for resistance-trained men.
Adipose Tissue ; Body Composition ; Body Weight ; Creatine ; Creatine Kinase ; Healthy Volunteers ; Humans ; Hydrocortisone ; L-Lactate Dehydrogenase ; Male ; Muscle, Skeletal* ; Myoglobin ; Natriuretic Peptide, Brain ; Pilot Projects* ; Resistance Training*