Korea | Food Labeling Standards (Proposed Revision)(Notification no. 2017-363)
Korea’s Ministry of Food and Drug Safety (MFDS) has proposed partial revision to the “Food Labeling Standards” (Notification no. 2017-363) on Sep 29, 2017.
Rationale for the revision:
The MFDS intend to expand the food allergen labeling scope to enhance consumer safety and provide food labeling information to consumers for unprocessed food products such as transparent packed agriculture and fishery products.
The new regulations will require food additives that may give rise to food safety accidents to be displayed with "warning on consumption" to help protect the safety of consumers and aid in the prevention of consumer safety accidents. Further, ambiguous wordings will be revised to improve the reliability of the labeling standards.
Main Changes:
1) Expansion of scope of allergen inducing substances and provision of exemption regulations [Draft Ⅱ-2-가-1)-가), Draft Ⅱ-2-가-2)]
"Pine nut" shall be added as one of the mandatory allergen display items.
Issue:
According to research findings, pine nut is one of the main causative substances causing severe allergic reactions such as hives over the entire body, airway edema, difficulty in breathing, shock etc. to infants and young children (according to the findings from Ajou University Hospital, 2015)
732 infants (25.2%) out of a total of 2, 910 had severe allergy reactions to milk, eggs, walnuts, wheat, peanuts, buckwheat, shrimp and pine nuts.
Why government intervention?
It was necessary to ensure that consumers will not ingest food products containing “pine nut” unknowingly. The addition of “pine nut” as one of mandatory allergens required for display will help avoid allergen-inducing accidents and hence contribute to the prevention of any food safety accidents.
Additional notes:
When the name of the only raw material, which is an allergen-inducing substance, of a manufactured or processed food product is used as the product name, the regulation will be revised to allow the omission of a separate allergen display as consumers can easily identify allergy information by the product name itself.
2) Mandatory display of food additives that may cause safety accidents [Draft Ⅱ-2-마]
It is necessary to provide accurate information to consumers about food additives that may cause safety accidents during consumption.
Food additives, such as liquid nitrogen, liquid carbon dioxide, dry ice, and nitrous oxide should be marked with “warnings” on the product to caution consumers of the product's safety.
Currently, 9 food additives are required to display cautionary notes for the sake of consumer safety, namely:
1) Ammonium hydroxide, 2) acetic acid, 3) glacial acetic acid, 4) hydrochloric acid, 5) sulfuric acid, 6) sodium hydroxide, 7) potassium hydroxide, 8) sodium hypochlorite and 9) bleaching powder
Issue:
When substances such as liquid nitrogen, liquid carbon dioxide, dried ice etc. come in contact with the eyes, skin or ingested, they may cause fatal injury to the human body.
Consumer accident incidents:
A 10-year-old female’s tongue was burnt (Jul 20, 2017) and a 12-year-old boy had gastrointestinal perforation after consuming confectioneries injected with liquid nitrogen from a transparent container.
Why government intervention?
Mandatory warning display of risky food additives is required to ensure the safety of consumers and prevention against consumer safety accidents when risky substances such as “liquid nitrogen”, “liquid carbon dioxide”, “dry ice” are used.
3) Displaying of phrases such as 'serving suggestions' on products using cooked food images [Draft II-1-너]
There is an increase in the number of products that deceive consumers by putting images on ready-made food products that differ significantly with their actual contents.
[Photo via 규제영향분석서]
There is a need to help guide consumers to make reasonable choices by displaying wordings such as “serving suggestions” near the images displayed.
4) Display “parts used” when parts other than the ginseng root is used [Draft Ⅲ-1-가 -2) - 사]
Consumers may be misled to believe that ginseng root is used when manufacturers display “ginseng” on their labels. There is also an increase of the use of parts (fruit, leaf, etc.) other than the roots of ginseng.
[Photo via 규제영향분석서]
Hence, revisions to provide a more accurate information to consumers by way of displaying the parts of ginseng used is necessary.
5) Mandatory on consumption for sour candies with strong acidity. [Draft Ⅲ-1-나-1)-나)-(15)-(라)]
There were incidents where children’s tongue and mouth start to feel pain after ingesting several strong acidic candies at one time or sucking them for a long time.
[Examples of food victims via 규제영향분석서]
Citric acid and malic acid etc. added in candies can produce very strong sourness and it’s low pH* value may induce pain in the mouth and tongue when exposed them repeatedly.
*pH value: Aisheo (아이셔) candy (pH : 2.5)
[Image via https://namu.wiki]
Crown Super Sour Flavour Candy (3초만참으셔) (pH: 3.0)
[Image via hmart]
Teteru Dendropanax Gummy (테테루황칠구미) (pH: 3.3)
[Image via babosarang.co.kr]
Issue:
Incidences of consumers getting hurt is on the rise, yet there are no separate warning displays about this potential harm.
Why government intervention?
There is a need for warnings on consumption to be displayed and prevention measures against consumers getting hurt.
6) Display soybean content in meju (fermented soybean) [Draft-Ⅲ-1-나-20)-나)-(15)-(마)]
Currently, there are no specifications regarding the soybean content in fermented soybean paste (hereafter referred as "meju") nor mandatory labeling requirements.
Regulations stipulating the standards for soybean in meju (95% and above Korean meju, 85% and above modified meju) in the Standards and Specifications For Food before 2007 were abolished.
Issues:
After the standards for soybean content in meju were abolished, the number of meju products containing low amounts of soybean were on the increase.
Consequently, this has resulted in an increasing need for mandatory display of soybean content in meju.
Proposed changes:
As the standards for soybean content in meju is deleted from "Food Standards and Specification", it is necessary to provide soybean content information through labeling.
It will be required to display the soybean content (%) in meju and create an environment where consumers can select and purchase rationally.
7) Deletion of labeling exemptions for unprocessed food in transparent packaging and new establishment of labeling exemption conditions for unprocessed food produced by small-scale farmers. [Draft Ⅲ-1-나-31)-다)-(1)]
Currently, unprocessed food such as agriculture, forestry, livestock, and fishery products are packed in transparent packaging such plastic wrapping etc (excluding vacuum packed products) so that consumers can check the contents from the outside. The current regulations also allows the omission of Korean labeling for such transparent packed products.
This regulation was established in 1996 for the sake of small-size producers.
Issues:
Large-size producers are packing their unprocessed products in transparent packaging and distributing and selling their products without labeling the manufacturing date (date of harvest) causing safety management problems.
Further, due to continuous occurrences of customer dissatisfaction arising from the discrepancies in content such as shortage in actual weight content as compared with labeled net weight displayed or missing information from manufacturers, the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs(MAFRA) has requested for the labeling exemptions to be abolished (in Dec, 2015)
Why government intervention?
There is a need to establish a new special regulation to require Korean labeling (exempting small size manufacturers).
In the case of small-sized producers, even if the regulations were enforced, there would be still limitations in reality. So, the special regulation will be maintained for those farmers, forestry workers or fisherman and manufacturing organizations where the standards or scope under the various acts such as the “Framework Act On Agriculture, Rural Community And Food Industry”, “Forestry And Mountain Villages Development Promotion Act” and “Framework Act On Fisheries And Fishing Villages Development” do not cover these people.
Agricultural farmer: Refers to those who farmland is 1000 sqm and above, and the annual sales amount of the cultivation or agricultural produce is 1,2million won and above or those who engage in farming for more than 90 days annually.
Forestry worker: Refers to those who operate forest farming in forests that are more than 3 hectares; those who engage in forest farming for more than 90 days annually; those who engages in more than 1.2 million won in sales for forestry produce through forestry management; or those who manage forestry as a union member according to Article 18 of the Forestry Cooperatives Act.
Fisherman: Refers to those whose annual sales of fishery products is above 1.2 million won; or engages in fishery work for more than 60 days annually.
In place of the abolition of the regulation that exempts unprocessed food in transparent packaging from labeling, a new regulation that exempts small-size farmers from being subject to display the harvest or manufacturing date of unprocessed food will be established and the requirements for mandatory labeling will be revised reasonably to provide clear information to consumers.
8) Require to display food additives for 100% reconstituted juice with food additives 〔Draft Ⅲ-3-바〕
Currently, the display of “100%” is prohibited unless no additives are added other than the actual raw materials of a product are used. However, in the case where the concentration is diluted to become the finished product and the concentration of the raw material (subjected to reconstituted labeling) is more than 100%, even if food additives (such as Citric acid or flavoring agents etc) were used, it can still be displayed as “100%” (For example, 100% Orange juice)
However, the 100% label is not allowed if other food raw materials (such as sugar, high-fructose corn syrup) other than food additives.
In the case of fruits and vegetables, the Brix value of 100% juice is specified in the "Food Standard and Specification" (Notification of MFDS) for each fruit, so it is possible to estimate the 100% through the standard sugar content, even if water was added to dilute the concentrate to achieve the final product. As it is difficult to manufacture, process, distribute or preserve products directly juiced from fruits or vegetables, food additives used are required to be reflected in the label (established in July 28, 2000).
Issues:
A reconstituted juice can be displayed as “100%” even if the concentration of the raw material is 100% or more even though food additives have been used. Hence, there are concerns that this may be misleading or confusing for consumers.
Additionally, there were also precedent cases of products displaying 100% even though mixed manufacturing agent raw materials (such as sugar, high-fructose corn syrup) other than food additives were added, so it is necessary to clarify the regulations restricting this.
* (Fair Trade Commission) Recommendation for Improvement of Customer Orientation Evaluation Project (Sep, 2016)
* Inquiries of the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications (Representative Kim Soon-rae, Oct, 2016)
Why government intervention?
There is a need to display the food additives added to provide accurate information to consumers. The regulations to prohibit 100% display must be clarified in the case when raw materials other than food additives are added.
9) Prohibition of display of trademarks and logos by distributors [Draft Ⅱ-3-아]
Currently, in the case whereby the distributor wants to display their distributor’s name and location, the font size must either be the same size or smaller than that of the manufacturer’s name. However, no regulations have been provided for the trademarks and logo display of distributor or sub-contractors.
It is possible to display the trademarks, logo, etc. of the manufacturers/processing manufacturers of the food etc, designated distributors and the consignors of OEM food productions.
Designated distributors: Refers to operators who sell or distribute food or food additives under their own trademarks, commissioned by the food manufacturer / processor or food additives manufacturer, without producing or processing food or food additives themselves.
Issues:
Distributors do not contribute to either the manufacturing or processing of the product but consumers rely on the trademarks and logo of such famous distributors (such as department stores and super marts) to buy their products.
Based on the authoritative interpretation, the display of trademarks or logos of distributors (including importers) and sub-contractors shall be prohibited.
Why government intervention?
There is a need to clarify that the display of trademarks and logo of “mere distributors” and “food sub-contractors” other than that of the manufacturers, processing manufacturers, specialized distributors is prohibited and there is a need to provide accurate information to avoid misleading or confusing consumers.
10) Deletion of the content display regulation for products which uses the generic name as the product name 〔Draft 『Appendix 1』1-가-3)-가) 및 나)〕
When a generic name is used as the product name, the total amount of the 2 or more raw materials should be more than 15% of the total content, but due to the confusion of the interpretation of the generic name and the standards and specifications of certain food categories, it is sometimes difficult to meet this 15% criteria.
Hence, it is proposed that the current regulations for the use of the generic name to be abolished. In the case when the generic name is used as the product name, the said raw material name and it’s content (%) shall be displayed on the main display panel to provide accurate information to the consumer.
11) When the design of the relevant raw materials or ingredients names are emphasized, display of the content % is required [Draft “Appendix 1”- 바, “Appendix 1” 1-사-2]
When the drawings or images of the relevant raw materials are displayed, it may mislead or confuse consumers to believe that the products contains a high content of the said ingredient.
In the case where the drawings etc. of the relevant raw material or ingredients names are displayed on the main label panel, it is proposed that the content (%) should also be displayed on the main display panel.
Submit Feedback:
Organizations or individuals who have opinions on the "Standards and Specifications for Apparatus, Containers and Packaging" can submit your comments to MFDS by the October 19, 2017 to the following contact:
Food Safety Labeling and Certification Division
Ministry of Food and Drug Safety
(Osong Health Technology Administration Complex, 187, Osongsaengmyeong2-ro, Osong-eup, Heungdeok-gu, Cheongju-si, Chungcheongbuk-do, Food Safety Policy Bureau, Food Safety Labelling and Certification Division, MFDS, KOREA)
Tel: +(82 43) 719 2181
Fax: +(82 43) 719 2850
Things to indicate:
1) Name (in the case of a group, the name of the group and the name of the representative)
2) Address
3) Telephone number
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