SEOUL, April 7 (UPI) — South Korea’s sugar tolerance is dwindling.
Seoul is introducing new legislation that requires food manufacturers to provide more information on sugar levels in their products, local newspaper Korea Herald reported Thursday.
The goal of the policy, according to South Korea’s Ministry of Food and Drug Safety, is to “make sure every citizen’s sugar consumption only makes up 10 percent of their daily calorie intake.”
“For example, if an individual’s daily calorie intake is 2,000 calories, he or she should only consume 200 calories worth of sugar – which is about 16 sugar cubes,” the ministry said in a statement.
The measure comes a day after the World Health Organization announced the number of diabetes patients have quadrupled globally, from 108 million in 1980 to 422 million in 2014.
High blood sugar levels are also responsible for the death of 3.7 million people annually, according to the report.
Sugar intake is relatively high in South Korea, according to the ministry, and accounts for more than 10 percent of daily caloric intake.
The new measures are to be introduced gradually.
All soft drinks are to be labeled as “high-calorie, low-nutrition foods” by 2018, and cookies and pastries are to be labeled by 2020, Hankyoreh reported.
There are also plans to introduce new education programs on nutrition at schools, the ministry said.
More than 90 percent of South Koreans ages 65 or older suffer from chronic illness, including diabetes, according to 2015 data.
