• Korean Journal of Food Science and Technology
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• v.28 no.4
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• pp.657-662
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• 1996

In order to investigate the quality status of fried-frozen Korean meat ball products during retail distribution, VBN value, TBA value, pH and metmyoglobin ratio were determined for 117 samples collected in Seoul area during the period of May to September, 1995. Most samples maintained relatively good quality, but one sample of a company showed $32.5mg%$ of VBN value and 0.65mg/kg of TBA value which indicate the early stage of spoilage. Correlation coefficient between metmyoglobin ratio and TBA value was highly significant. Samples closer to shelf-life limit tended to show higher VBN value, TBA value, metmyoglobin ratio and pH. Out of the surveyed samples, 35% were on retail shelves of temperature above $-14^{\circ}C$, while only 18% were being sold at temperature below $-18^{\circ}C$. It is concluded that prepared frozen foods should be stored at the recommended temperature of $-18^{\circ}C$.