'Tanghulu' summoned to the National Assembly audit... "Even eating just 2 a day greatly increases sugar intake"

Daily Sugar Intake Recommendation for Adults: 50g
"Simple sugars are hard to escape once you get used to them"

Tanghulu, which is gaining tremendous popularity among teenagers, has been pointed out as a threat to adolescent health due to excessive sugar intake, leading to the selection of the Tanghulu franchise representative as a witness at the National Assembly Health and Welfare Committee's audit.

However, there is ongoing debate about whether it is appropriate to summon the Tanghulu franchise representative to the audit simply because Tanghulu has recently become trendy, given that many other desserts also contain high levels of sugar. Besides Tanghulu, other popular desserts such as yakgwa, bubble tea, macarons, croffles, and donuts have all been identified as contributing factors to excessive sugar consumption.

The reason the Health and Welfare Committee selected Kim Sohyang, CEO of Dalkomwangga Tanghulu, as a witness is to question the health issues of adolescents, as the sugar in Tanghulu is highly likely to cause diseases such as diabetes and obesity.

Tanghulu is made by hardening sugar on fruit, so the sugar content of the original fruit is increased by the added sugar, resulting in higher sugar intake. One skewer of Tanghulu contains 10 to 25 grams of sugar, so eating just two skewers meets the recommended daily sugar intake of 50 grams for adults.

Regarding this, Kim Kyunggon, Vice President of the Korean Society for the Study of Obesity, said, "It is actually difficult to judge whether a single food is good or bad for health. Eating one or two occasionally does not cause health problems," adding, "The problem is that modern people are constantly exposed to simple sugars, and they consume them multiple times a day."

On the 11th, Kim appeared on CBS Radio's 'Kim Hyun-jung's News Show' and explained the popularity of Tanghulu among teenagers, saying, "Simple sugars are immediately used by our bodies as energy when needed, so our bodies naturally like them," and "Because it follows a system similar to addiction to cigarettes, nicotine, and drugs, once accustomed to the taste, it is hard to break free."

He also added, "Since there is a need to do things together within peer groups, students now go to convenience stores or Tanghulu shops to eat together, feeling a sense of belonging, which is another reason for the trend."

According to Kim, the recommended intake of Tanghulu is less than 2 to 3 pieces per day. However, this calculation only considers Tanghulu alone, so if other foods are consumed as well, the actual amount should be less.

Kim said, "The added sugar guideline presented by the Ministry of Health and Welfare is within 10% of total daily calories," adding, "Daily calorie intake varies depending on body size and age, but if a woman’s daily calorie intake is set at 2000 kcal, it is best that 200 kcal comes from sugar. In terms of weight, that is about 50 grams, so 2 to 3 pieces of Tanghulu would already exceed this guideline."

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