Pukyong National University

PKNU student received the 'grand prize' in the 7th contest of the consumer-oriented improvement task

- winning team of Park Si-Eun and Park Yoo-Shin with the theme of 'ways of improving labeling of zero sugar products'

△ The winning students. Park Si-Eun (left), Park Yoo-Shin. ⓒPhoto Lee Sung-Jae (PR team)

The student team of Park Si-Eun and ark Yoo-Shin, both sophomores in the department of public administration at Pukyong National University (President Jang Young-Soo), won the grand prize at the 7th contest of the consumer-oriented improvement task held by the Fair trade commission (FTC) and the Korea consumer agency.

In this contest, the student team from Pukyong National University received the grand prize, a commendation from the chairman of the Fair trade commission, with 1.5 million won cash prize for their proposal for 'ways of improving labeling of zero sugar products'.

This contest has been held every year to collect ideas from the consumer's perspective on laws and systems that limit consumers' rights and interests.

The team's proposal, 'ways of Improving labeling of zero-sugar products', pointed out that although zero-sugar products on the market are labeled as if no sugar is added, they contain sugar alcohols that actually contain sugar, and the student team presented clear standards for the notation and received an excellent evaluation from the evaluation team.

Starting from the problem that zero-sugar products can be a problem for people who need to manage their blood sugar, through the current laws, 「act on labeling and advertising of food, and others」 and 「labeling matters for consumer safety in the enforcement rules of the act on labeling and advertising of food (refers to article 5, paragraph 1)」, they reviewed ways to specify accurate information.

Accordingly, the students from Pukyong National University proposed a cautionary statement and a specific labeling plan to include the phrase 'this food contains sugar alcohol, so special caution is required when managing blood sugar levels' in font size of 10 points or more and was recognized by the evaluation panel as the most outstanding proposal.

Professor Oh Young-Sam said (dept. of public administration), "Their proposal is meaningful in that it is a practical system improvement plan that can prevent potential health risks for people who have allergic reactions or need to manage blood sugar levels." <Pukyong Today>