[Updated] South Korea Revises Food Labeling Standard

On September 6, 2022, the Ministry of Food and Drug Safety officially released the latest version of Food Labeling Standard. The new Standard is effective on January 1, 2024, except for the provision of set-packaged products sold online which is implemented along with the Standard's issuance. 

On June 30, 2022, the Ministry of Food and Drug Safety (MFDS) unveiled a notification to solicit public opinions on the amendments to Food Labeling Standard.¹ Stakeholders are welcome to send suggestions to the authority prior to July 30, 2022. The proposed amendments are:

1. Revising the labeling of“Flavoring substances”

Since July 1, the categories of "artificial flavoring" and "natural flavoring" are integrated into a new category "flavoring". Therefore, the provisions of labeling flavoring substances need to be modified accordingly.

According to the proposed amendments, when labeling the “flavoring”, the expressions of “natural” or “artificial” can be used. However, to claim as a "natural flavoring", there must be no addition of artificial flavoring substances.

2. Permitting new food additives to be labeled as "gum base"