Korea legislates trans fat labelling
The Korea Food & Drug Administration (KFDA) announced revised food labeling standards in September 2006 and the new requirements will take effect on 1 December 2007.
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The revised regulations make it compulsory to show the amount of trans fats in processed food such as bread, candy, chocolate, noodles and beverages.
"We completed an investigation of some 500 kinds of food, including snacks and fast food children enjoy, before implementing the measure.
“We notified each food company of the result and are looking at whether they are improving. Inspections will continue until artificially produced trans fats are gone completely.
Why Korea introduced trans fat labelling
What makes the introduction of trans fat labelling in Korea interesting is that the country's level of trans fat consumption is presently very low.
For Korean adults aged between 20 and 77, a survey found that their average consumption of trans fats is just 0.18 grams per day. In contrast, average adult consumption of trans fats in the US and Canada are in the range of 6 to 8 grams per day.
The World Health Organisation recommendion is that trans fat consumption should not exceed 1 percent of total calories. Based on a 2,000 calorie per day diet, this means trans fats should not take up more than 20 calories, which would come from about 2.2 grams of trans fat.
Thus, the trans fat intake of Korean adults is just 0.08 percent of total calories – a very, very low figure.
Yet Korea has decided that it was necessary to adopt compulsory trans fat labelling, and, to quote Park Hye-kyung of the KFDA, to continue inspections until artificially produced trans fats are gone completely.
No trans fat labelling in Singapore
Contrast this with the position adopted by a country like Singapore.
Here, the Ministry of Health and the Health Promotion Board keeps harping on the fact that trans fat labelling and other measures to curb the intake of trans fats are not needed because present intake levels are below (actually just marginally below) the WHO recommendation of 1 percent.
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The authorities, running out of excuses, even cited "trade barriers” as a reason, saying that trans fat labelling would affect 70 percent of imported packaged foods.
To understand why Singapore refuses to label trans fats, click here.
Back to trans fat labelling in Korea
Another interesting thing about Korea is that a recent study, released in January 2007, found that children and teenagers take a lot more trans fats than adults.
While this is not entirely surprising, it is the first study of its kind that I have come across.
The study found that children aged 5 to 9 consume, on average, 0.36 grams of trans fats per day – twice the intake level of adults. Korean teenagers aged 13 to 19 consume the most trans fats -- 0.48 grams per day, nearly three times the average intake of adults.
They survey results were released AFTER South Korea legislated compulsory trans fat labelling, so it is not likely that the figures had influenced the Korean health authorities to introduce the new measures.
These numbers actually make out a strong case for a ban on trans fat, rather than just trans fat labelling, since children and teenagers are not the sort of people who would normally read nutrition facts labels.
Moreover, their trans fat intake would have come from fast food restaurants and other sources that are not labelled.
Heart disease and cancer in Korea
Also noteworthy about Korea is that the country has relatively low rates of heart disease, cancer and other degenerative diseases.
Korean women have one of the lowest cancer rates in the world, slightly lower than that of Japan and China, and considerably lower than that of the United States. For Korean men, the cancer rate falls in the lower middle range.
The rate of ischemic heart disease in Korea is also relatively low. Average life span in Korea is on the high side, 70 for men and 77.7 for women.
All of this is in spite of Koreans eating plenty of beef! It clearly shows that red meat, saturated fat and cholesterol are not the causes of heart disease, cancer and other degenerative diseases – and that the causes might be found in modern, artificial foods like trans fats.
Korea's enlightened approach to trans fat labelling
Korea, more so than the US or Canada, has shown an enlightened approach in tackling the issue of trans fats.
Unlike American or European countries, which adopted – or are considering – trans fat labelling and other curbs to reverse problems like heart disease, obesity and diabetes, Korea has adopted a pro-active approach to nip the problem in the bud.
Possibly the only other country with an enligtened approach is Denmark, which decided in 2003 to ban trans fats, rather than impose trans fat labelling which, it feels, will not be effective.
Click here to read why Denmark thinks labelling is the wrong approach
