ITC Topic Class: Food Labels

http://www.koreaherald.com/national/Detail.jsp?newsMLId=20100514000856



A state food safety agency is seeking to label more than 70 percent of chocolate and hamburger products with a “red traffic light” marker to indicate that they are unhealthy, officials said yesterday.



The Korea Food and Drug Administration revealed a draft plan for its system, under which depending on the amount of unhealthy ingredients in food products, three labels -- colored red, yellow or green -- will be attached to the packaging of food items.



The plan, which the KFDA seeks to begin implementing at the beginning of next year, was presented at an academic seminar held at the Korea International Exhibition Center in Goyang, Gyeonggi Province.



“By clearly showing to the children what nutrients the foods they eat contain, the system will help them better manage their eating patterns. It will be used for nutrition education,” Park Hye-kyung, director of the nutrition policy division at the KFDA, told The Korea Herald.



The proposed system has drawn the ire of local food companies. But, a KFDA official said under a special law on “the safe management of children’s dietary life,” which was enacted last year, it is not mandatory for companies to attach the labels.



“It is the minimal standards that we ‘recommend.’ We will see whether it is an effective measure or not. We will, then, decide whether to make it mandatory or further expand it. We have tried to solicit opinions from companies,” Park said.



Called the “traffic light label system,” the plan focuses mainly on the amounts of fat, saturated fat, sugars and sodium contained in certain products.



According to the plan, a red traffic light label is to be attached to a snack if one serving contains more than 9 grams of fat, 4 grams of saturated fat or 17 grams of sugar.


If a meal contains more than 12 grams of fat, 4 grams of saturated fat or 600 miligrams of sodium per serving, it will also get a red label.


The KFDA found based on its simulation tests that at least 74 percent of chocolate products, 58 percent of ice cream products and 42 percent of bread would be labeled with a red traffic light under the new plan.


It also found that some 76 percent of hamburgers and sandwiches would receive red light labels.