Bottles of soju, a rice-based liquor popular with local drinkers, are on display at a hypermarket on Feb. 8, 2022. (Yonhap)
SEOUL, Sept. 8 (Korea Bizwire) — The Ministry of Food and Drug Safety and the Fair Trade Commission on Wednesday signed an agreement with six liquor associations oto provide calorie information on alcoholic beverages.
Previously, only a few companies have provided calorie information on their alcoholic beverages. With this agreement, the liquor industry will provide calorie information next to the amount of alcohol contained in each product.
Considering the industry circumstances, the new regulation will apply to companies with over 12 billion won in liquor sales.
Some 70 companies will be affected by the agreement, which accounts for 72 percent of all liquor sales.
As of next year, companies will begin to label their alcoholic beverages with calorie information, with the process expected to continue until 2025.
The Korea Consumer Agency reported in 2019 that a single bottle of soju (360-milliliter) has 408 kilocalories (kcal), and a single bottle of beer (500 ㎖) contains 236 kcal.
The Ministry of Food and Drug Safety and the Fair Trade Commission will collect implementation plans from the liquor associations, and consumer organizations will assess the implementation process.
M. H. Lee (mhlee@koreabizwire.com)
