Hwang Kyo-ik "Tanghulu Trend Due to That Broadcast"... Is Baek Jong-won Responsible?

"The broadcast that broke down vigilance against the party is the problem"

Taste columnist Hwang Kyo-ik criticized the "Tanghulu craze," saying, "We need to be cautious about sugar."

On the 9th, Hwang Kyo-ik wrote on his SNS, "Due to the Tanghulu trend, various media outlets are flooding with articles worrying about adolescent health," adding, "It’s ridiculous that those who said nothing or even sided with food broadcasting programs when they were breaking down caution about sugar just to boost ratings are now making such concerns."

Photo by Yonhap News

He stated, "The Tanghulu craze is just one of many phenomena arising because caution about 'sugar' has been lost," and added, "The problem wasn’t Tanghulu itself, but those broadcasting programs that broke down caution about sugar back then. The concern should have been raised at that time, so why bring it up now?"

He also said, "We must not forget that such baseness has greatly harmed the health of our future generations."

The broadcasting program Hwang referred to appears to be MBC’s entertainment show 'My Little Television.' At that time, the production team added CG effects like sugar waterfalls every time Baek Jong-won put sugar into food, even giving him the nickname 'Sugar Boy.'

Photo by Yonhap News

Hwang had criticized this at the time as well. He said, "Excessive sugar intake can disrupt the body’s balance," and criticized, "But on television, a slightly chubby man appears and shows scenes of pouring sugar by the cupful into food." He did not hide that this was a criticism aimed at Baek Jong-won by imitating Baek’s distinctive dialect phrase, "It’s okay~."

When controversy arose over the criticism targeting Baek Jong-won, Hwang said, "Whether restaurants freely add lots of sugar or not is freedom in a liberal democracy. Eating is also freedom," but added, "However, it is not acceptable to appear on broadcasts showing recipes with lots of sugar and say it’s okay."

Tanghulu is a dessert made by coating fruit with sugar and starch syrup and drying it. Wangga Tanghulu, operated by the famous Tanghulu franchise Sweet Country Alice, is so popular that it has surpassed 400 stores.

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