South Korea Updates Food Labeling Standard (Notice No. 2021-88)

The standard of using the "no sugar added" claim is amended. The “non-alcoholic food” labeling method is specified to improve its readability. Coffee shops are required to label the caffeine content.

On November 5, 2021, the Ministry of Food and Drug Safety (MFDS) published a revision to the Food Labeling Standard (Notice No. 2021-88)¹, intending to provide more accurate information to consumers. The amendments are specified as below:

1. Revising the Standard of Using "No Sugar Added" Claim

Previously, a product can use the “sugar-free(무당)”, “no added sugar(설탕 무첨가)”, or “without added sugar(무가당)” claim on label when its sugar content is less than 0.5g/100g. However, the Codex specifies that a food product can be labeled with "no added sugar" or "without added sugar" only when it contains no sugar or sugar-contained ingredient.

To keep aligned with the international standard, MFDS modified the contents when using “no added sugar” or “without added sugar” claim. The detailed amendments are:

Labels	Previous standard of using the labels	Present standard of using the labels
Sugar-free(무당)	Sugar content: less than 0.5g/100g	Sugar content: less than 0.5g/100g (No changes)
No added sugar(설탕 무첨가) Without added sugar(무가당)	Sugar content: less than 0.5g/100g	No sugar, ingredient containing sugar, or sugar substitutes were added during processing.

2. Improving the Readability of “Non-Alcoholic Food” Label

When labeling a food as “Non-alcoholic” food, a statement of “adult only, alcohol less than 1% (성인용, 알코올 1% 미만 함유)” shall be placed next to the “non-alcoholic” label, in an effort to clarify the product is only for adults. However, no detailed requirements for labeling the statement were specified.

Therefore, the latest version stipulates that the statement “alcohol less than 1% (성인용, 알코올 1% 미만 함유)” shall use a different background color to help consumers easily recognize it.

Example: 비알코올(성인용, 알코올 1% 미만 함유) Non-alcoholic (adult only, alcohol less than 1%)

3. Coffee Shops Need To Label the Caffeine Content

The coffee chains with more than 100 shops in South Korea are required to label the caffeine contents and precautions, to prevent consumers from consuming too much coffee. When the liquid coffee and tea with more than 0.15mg/1ml, the caffeine content should be clarified. A precaution of "children, pregnant women, and the people allergic to caffeine shall be cautious of drinking the coffee/tea" shall be labeled too.

4. Other Amendments

The lactic acid bacteria count can be labeled in Korean. For example "lactic acid bacteria 100,000,000 CFU/g" can also be labeled as the “lactic acid bacteria 1억 CFU/g” (“1억”means “100 million” ).

The natural food product packaged in a transparent bag can be exempted from labeling the contents.

Food categories are modified in accordance with the amendments in the superordinate regulation Food Code².