Safety Standards Established for Vegan Foods Such as 'Steak Made from Kong'

5-Year Implementation Plan for the 2nd Basic Management Plan on Standards and Specifications of Food, etc.

Beyond Meat, a US-based plant-based meat producer. The main ingredient is protein extracted from peas. Source=Beyond Meat website

[Asia Economy Reporter Cho Hyun-ui] The Ministry of Food and Drug Safety (MFDS) is revising food safety standards to respond to rapidly changing dietary habits, including establishing safety technologies for vegan foods due to the increase in vegetarians (vegans).

On the 20th, the MFDS announced that it has established the "2nd Basic Plan for the Management of Food Standards and Specifications," which will be implemented over five years from this year through 2024. The plan focuses on preparing food standards and specifications applicable to changing food consumption trends?such as demographic changes, emphasis on health and convenience, and pursuit of ethical consumption?as well as food industry technology and distribution environments.

The main initiatives include ▲strengthening food safety management in response to demographic and environmental changes ▲managing standards and specifications according to structural changes and accelerated technology in the food industry ▲re-evaluating and advancing standards and specifications.

Due to the increase in chronic diseases associated with aging, special medical purpose foods will be reorganized into a separate food category to enable the development and supply of customized foods for the elderly and patients. A new category called "dietary management foods" will be established for managing meals of chronic disease patients such as those with diabetes, kidney, and intestinal diseases, along with the establishment of nutritional and hygiene standards.

In response to increasing health threats such as microplastic contamination and abnormal climate events, microplastic monitoring and human exposure assessments will be conducted on foods primarily made from seafood and solar salt. Standards will be established for harmful microorganisms like Vibrio vulnificus and contaminants such as acrylamide, for which no standards currently exist.

As meat alternatives such as konggogi (soy meat) and cultured meat emerge as new foods, the soundness of alternative protein foods will be reviewed and a safety evaluation framework will be established. With the emergence of food additives (enzymes, sweeteners, etc.) manufactured using new technologies such as biotechnology (BT), safety evaluation standards for bio food additives will also be developed.

Standards and specifications will be re-evaluated to reflect environmental pollution and changes in dietary habits. To advance the management of residue standards in agricultural, livestock, and fishery products, the Positive List System (PLS) will be introduced for livestock and fishery products as well.

The MFDS stated, "While advancing food safety standards, we will improve regulations to enhance the competitiveness of the food industry and strengthen people-centered food safety management."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.