South Korea Revises the Food Labeling Requirements

On June 11, 2024, the Ministry of Food and Drug Safety (MFDS) revised the Regulation of False Labeling or Advertising Contents of Food¹., banning tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) and cannabidiol (CBD)-related labeling, and medicine names for foods.

Details are as below:

(1) New prohibition on labeling and advertising of THC and CBD

The authority clarifies that no food manufacturers or sellers shall use labels or advertisements emphasizing that the food contains THC, CBD and other narcotics, even though some may naturally exist in trace amounts. 

The enhanced management of narcotic-related labeling may be the Korean government’s response to the widespreading of illegal drug use. As per the report² released by MFDS on May 29, 2024, methamphetamine, the most well-known illegal drug in South Korea, was detected in all sewage treatment plants nationwide for the fourth consecutive year. It is estimated that illegal drug users are already throughout the country everywhere. 

(2) Prohibition of medicine names for foods

To prevent consumers from mistaking food for medicine, MFDS prohibited the usage of traditional herbal medicines and similar terms in food labels or advertisements. According to the new regulation, the authority further expands the scope of such prohibited medicine names by including the expressions of:

Combination of traditional herbal medicines “Gongjin (공진/공신), Kyungok (경옥)” and traditional herbal medicine dosage forms, such as tang(탕Decoction), jeon(전 Pill), yakju (약주 Medicinal wine), etc.

Implementation Date

This regulation will be effective on January 1, 2026. Food products manufactured, processed, or imported before January 1, 2026, can be distributed in South Korea until the product’s expiry date.