Govt slams unhealthy snacks for children

By Bae Ji-sook
Staff reporter

Children here will find their favorite snacks covered with warnings in three shades on the package next year as the Korea Food and Drug Administration (KFDA) has decided to grade the nutrition of children's food as red, green or yellow.

The first design of the indicators was disclosed Thursday amid concerns from food makers that the flashy labels may scare off children and decrease sales.

The KFDA said the amount of sodium, saturated fat, sugar and total fat contained in the food will be listed on the label or packaging.

Snacks exceeding 9 grams of total fat, 4 grams of saturated fat and 17 grams of sugar per serving portion will be graded red, meaning "bad."

The administration expects about 74 percent of chocolates currently on the store shelves to be slapped with the red-colored mark. More than 58 percent of ice cream and 76 percent of bread products as well as 76 percent of hamburgers and sandwiches will be in the red zone, the food safety watchdog estimated after conducting preliminary studies.

The system benchmarked the successful launching of similar guidelines in Britain. Large retailers such as Asda and Boots, food makers such as Avondale Foods, and restaurants such as Yo! Sushi have been praised after adopting the grading, the KFDA said.

The labeling will be more of a recommendation than mandatory, but KFDA official Park Hye-gyeong expects the majority of major food makers to follow the rule since more customers are aware of nutritional standards. It will start from confectionary to prepared foods such as hamburgers, pizzas and others.

The project will be announced by the minister of health and welfare at the end of this month.

The "food traffic light" came as Korea continues to struggle with the growing number of youths suffering from obesity and various health problems as a result of eating unhealthy, high-calorie and low-nutrition foods.

According to governmental research results, the child obesity prevalence rate jumped from 5.8 percent in 1998 to 9.7 percent in 2005.

In a separate report by the Health Insurance Review and Assessment Service, the number of children aged under 10 diagnosed with cerebrovascular disease has jumped by 4.5 percent in five years.

The government has already banned the distribution of cup noodles, hamburgers and soft drinks on school grounds and requested fast-food makers to notify their customers of nutritional information at the counter where they place their orders desk or on the wrapping.

But these measures have stirred protests from confectionary makers grappling with the declining number of children eating their products due to rapidly falling birthrates.

"There are certain foods that contain a naturally high amount of fat, such as chocolate made with cacao beans. However, by attaching a red label to the cover, many customers will turn away from the products without really thinking about the pros and cons,"a promoter for a large confectionary firm said.

"Consecutive regulations are already driving people away from snacks and the measures could dry the market out," he added.

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