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This paper aims to identify consumer preferences before Dongchimi products are commercialized and brought to the market. It provides basic data for research and development of Dongchimi products, examining consumer preferences for general products and purchase intentions based on eating-out behavior, dietary lifestyle and demographic characteristics. Finally, the study examined male and female consumers more than 18 years old who have eaten Dongchimi, particularly their consumption behavior.

This study was based on preliminary in-depth interviews of consumers to investigate consumer Dongchimi consumption behavior. The authors examined their demographic characteristics, dining-out behavior, dietary lifestyles, how often they buy pickled products and the circumstances in which they consume Dongchimi products. Various statistical analyses were performed with SPSS 18.0, including frequency analysis of the general characteristics of subjects, chi-square test for difference verification as well as factor analysis and cluster analyses.

More than half of the respondents eat Dongchimi products only once or twice every six months or once or twice a year. Consumers prefer Dongchimi’s glass bottle packaging with two to three servings of white radish, the original version of Dongchimi. Furthermore, cross-analysis comparing purchase intentions of Dongchimi products among clusters revealed significant differences (χ2 = 212.58, df = 2, p < 0.001). The group most concerned with taste and diet showed 100 per cent purchase intention. However, the group most interested in convenience showed only 50 per cent purchase intention for Dongchimi products. The group primarily concerned with health showed little intention to purchase.

Food scholars have investigated consumption behaviors of domestic consumers in developing kimchi products, but research on Dongchimi is lacking, especially of consumption behaviors by actual consumers. Using certain determinants (marital status, expense of dining out, frequency of buying pickled products and food-related lifestyle), the authors analyzed the purchasing intentions of consumers of Dongchimi products. The results show that married consumers who spend heavily on dining out and purchase pickled foods frequently, but who are also concerned about taste and diet, were those with the highest intention to purchase Dongchimi products.

The purpose of this paper is to examine the efficacy of microbial elimination using different sanitizers in raw vegetables (cherry tomatoes, spring onions, Chinese chives, and chicory) and to analyze the efficacy of Escherichia coli O157:H7 reduction by type of sanitizer and vegetable.

To assess the sanitizing effects of microbial elimination by variety of vegetable, the samples were grouped into four different washing methods: control (no sanitizer), 100 ppm chlorine, 100 ppm electrolyzed water, and 200 ppm electrolyzed water after prewashing. Subsequently, quantitative microbiological experiments were conducted to assess aerobic mesophilic plate count (APC), coliform, E. coli, and Bacillus cereus, and sensory changes of the sanitized vegetables were tested. Thereafter, measurement of the sanitizing effects on bacterial reduction after inoculation with E. coli O157:H7 was conducted.

The microbial levels of four types of vegetables ranged from 3.37 to 5.24 log CFU/g for APC, 2.41 to 5.57 log CFU/g for E. coli, 0.25 to 5.40 log CFU/g for coliform, and 0.83 to 5.44 log CFU/g for B. cereus. After three types of sanitizing treatments, microbial reduction effects showed 0.94-1.84 log CFU/g for APC, 0.56-1.00 log CFU/g for E. coli, 0.18-1.26 log CFU/g for coliform, and 0.56-1.23 log CFU/g for B. cereus (p<0.05). In sensory evaluation, there were no significant differences in taste and flavor between with and without sanitizing treatments. Regarding bacterial reduction after inoculation with E. coli O157:H7, the microbial reduction on vegetables was shown to be in the range of 0.27-1.57 log CFU/g with 100 ppm sodium hypochlorite, 0.66-3.07 log CFU/g with 100 ppm electrolyzed water, and 0.79-2.55 log CFU/g with 200 ppm electrolyzed water. Chicory, cherry tomato, and spring onion showed significant reduction levels of E. coli O157:H7 after sanitation (p<0.05).

This study revealed that different sanitization methods are required for different types of vegetables. Electrolyzed water treatment (100 ppm) is a more effective and safe method of washing raw vegetables. Given that the main purpose of sanitizing fresh-cut produce is to maximally reduce microorganism levels, different methods of sanitizing fresh-cut produce with an adequate washing method should be used according to vegetable type.