By Kim Jae-heun
It has been a week since allegedly deceptive snack packaging was the subject of a unique protest on the Han River, but you might say the underlying topic remains fresh.
On Sept. 28, four college students made a raft of 160 inflated bags of Orion's potato chips, the type readily available at any grocery store, and two of them went on a 1.3km trip across the river, being escorted by a police patrol boat.
From a distance, it looked like a bunch of Mylar balloons inflated for a birthday celebration.
They were not. In fact, they represented a show of protest against snack-makers for inflating containers of their products with nitrogen gas in order to hide the small amount of food inside.
Nearly 200 spectators gathered in the Jamsil district of Han River Park.
"We often feel ripped off when we find out how small the amounts are inside the inflated containers," said Yoo Sung-ho, one of the rafters. "Snack-makers should be more conscientious."
"When I open a pack of snacks, I am often surprised to see only one third is filled with food," said Choi Jin-ah, a housewife. "Compared to imported products, Korean snack products have too much air and too few snacks."
Bok Jung-hun, another citizen who offered some snacks to the students for making their raft, said, "The event is meaningful. I couldn't find a way to complain about snack packs before."
Under the law, snacks should fill at least 65 percent of their bags. Manufacturers violating the rule are subject to 3 million won in fines.
"I'm doubtful that nitrogen in the snack pack fills less than 35 percent. Besides, it is impossible for a consumer to know what percent of nitrogen is actually taking up the space," said Lee Chu-ja, another housewife.
Orion, one of Korea's major confectionary companies, said injecting some nitrogen into snack packages was inevitable.
"The main purpose is to protect the contents," said an official with the snack maker, on condition of anonymity. "Still, we've heard people's complaints and decided to undergo an examination to reduce the size of the packs, or to add more snacks in the packs. We will try our best to meet consumer demands."
No study has so far revealed the exact amount of nitrogen necessary to protect the contents in the packs.
After the protest voyage, the students dismantled the raft and donated all the snacks to an orphanage.
It has been a week since allegedly deceptive snack packaging was the subject of a unique protest on the Han River, but you might say the underlying topic remains fresh.
On Sept. 28, four college students made a raft of 160 inflated bags of Orion's potato chips, the type readily available at any grocery store, and two of them went on a 1.3km trip across the river, being escorted by a police patrol boat.
From a distance, it looked like a bunch of Mylar balloons inflated for a birthday celebration.
They were not. In fact, they represented a show of protest against snack-makers for inflating containers of their products with nitrogen gas in order to hide the small amount of food inside.
Nearly 200 spectators gathered in the Jamsil district of Han River Park.
"We often feel ripped off when we find out how small the amounts are inside the inflated containers," said Yoo Sung-ho, one of the rafters. "Snack-makers should be more conscientious."
"When I open a pack of snacks, I am often surprised to see only one third is filled with food," said Choi Jin-ah, a housewife. "Compared to imported products, Korean snack products have too much air and too few snacks."
Bok Jung-hun, another citizen who offered some snacks to the students for making their raft, said, "The event is meaningful. I couldn't find a way to complain about snack packs before."
Under the law, snacks should fill at least 65 percent of their bags. Manufacturers violating the rule are subject to 3 million won in fines.
"I'm doubtful that nitrogen in the snack pack fills less than 35 percent. Besides, it is impossible for a consumer to know what percent of nitrogen is actually taking up the space," said Lee Chu-ja, another housewife.
Orion, one of Korea's major confectionary companies, said injecting some nitrogen into snack packages was inevitable.
"The main purpose is to protect the contents," said an official with the snack maker, on condition of anonymity. "Still, we've heard people's complaints and decided to undergo an examination to reduce the size of the packs, or to add more snacks in the packs. We will try our best to meet consumer demands."
No study has so far revealed the exact amount of nitrogen necessary to protect the contents in the packs.
After the protest voyage, the students dismantled the raft and donated all the snacks to an orphanage.
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