Korean Children Face Poor Food Safety

The Consumer and Food Economics Institute’s index is calculated based on 12 items that include the rate of monitoring food manufacturers preferred by children, the rate of collecting and testing children’s food, the rate of food poisoning at schools, the number of food poisoned students, the number of students poisoned by food per school food poisoning incident, the rate of restaurants informing eaters of nutrients, the rate of obese students, the rate of students having breakfast, the rate of reduction in trans fat, the rate of people who know the current system to protect children’s food, the rate of safety awareness, and the rate of nutrient recognition.

Among the 12 items, the index for food poisoning at schools received the lowest score. In 2000, three food poisoning cases occurred in the nation. However, the number of incidence increased to 49 cases in 2003 and 70 cases in 2006. Similarly, the number of students poisoned by food per school food poisoning incident rose from 18 students in 2000 to 100 students in 2006.

Also, the rate of monitoring food manufacturers preferred by children also fell from 105.5 percent in 2000 to 78.8 percent in 2005. It stood at 83.7 percent in 2006. 100 percent means that a food manufacturer is monitored by a relevant agency at least once per year.

According to the survey, no fast food restaurants, restaurants selling fried chicken or pizzerias turned out to inform customers of nutrients. Lowering the evaluation index, only 79 percent of students have breakfast (89.1 percent of grade schoolers, 84.8 percent of junior high schoolers, and 63.2 percent of high schoolers).

A survey of 53 foods preferred by children was conducted. Respondents include 300 parents and another 200 adults. Claims that ‘children’s food is safe,’ scored only 4.91 out of 10. Moreover, the safety of food like broiled dish served with sliced rice cake in a hot sauce (often sold by mom-and-pop stores located nearby schools) saw its score decline to 3.69.

Experts on food safety said, “The index means that children are exposed to a poor environment in terms of food. It is hard to directly compare Korea’s food environment with children in other nations. However, the index should at least reach 50.”

Jeong Gi-hye, head of the Food and Nutrient Policy Team of the Korea Institute for Health and Social Affairs, said, “The government should improve safety for school lunches and strengthen monitoring activities. We’ll compare relevant scores each year and adjust our results.”

Based on the research, Korea’s Food & Drug Administration will assess the food environment for children by region from April to October.

zozo@donga.com