South Korea is at the forefront of changing Asia-Pacific food regulations

Regulatory developments in South Korea

• Cell-cultivated foods – The MFDS 2024 Implementation Plan for Management of Standards and Specifications of Foods has a specific focus on novel food technologies and includes a list of documents needed for pre-market approval of cell-cultivated food ingredients. This has been implemented since February 2024.
• Nutrition labelling – A phased expansion of mandatory nutrition labelling has been announced by the MFDS, beginning in 2026 with a target completion of 2028. It will encompass all processed food categories, including those generally considered ‘less processed’ such as honey and traditional soy sauce. However, certain prepacked foods will be still remain exempt, such as alcoholic beverages and products with extremely low nutritional value like chewing gums.
• Circular packaging – The MFDS 2024 plan also covers the development of testing methods to monitor microplastics and promotes the use of recycled materials in food packaging. Furthermore, the Ministry of Environment has enforced provisions for labelling of the use rate of recycled packaging materials in products and packaging since April 2024.

Alternative proteins and cell-cultivated ingredients

Overall, the APAC region continues to lead the evolution of regulations for alternative proteins and cell-cultivated foods. South Korea and Singapore are both working towards specified provisions for pre-market approval of alternative proteins including cell-cultivated ingredients. Meanwhile, Singapore approved the sale of cultured quail as a novel food in April 2024. Food Standards Australia and New Zealand (FSANZ) also conducted an initial public consultation on the approval of cultured quail as a novel food for the Australian market. Based on the feedback, it recently proposed a standards-based approach for all cell-cultured foods. This was open to public consultation until December 24, 2024.

Together, these developments make APAC an attractive prospect for food business operators developing alternative proteins and cell-cultivated ingredients. However, there are quite significant discrepancies between markets, so multi-country strategies require careful planning to ensure compliance and cost-efficiency.

Navigating changing regulations

Current drivers of regulatory change in APAC range from emerging technologies to sustainability, to health and nutrition, to circular packaging. With so much variety and complexity, keeping up with new requirements and opportunities demands focused attention. This is where our regulatory experts can help. Fluency in local languages combined with a high level of experience enables them to quickly determine developments that are relevant to individual food business operators and specific aspects of the product portfolio.

How Leatherhead can help

Find out how membership with Leatherhead Food Research could underpin more efficient and cost-effective regulatory strategies for your business here. Membership includes access to our latest annual trends report which covers emerging and evolving regulatory trends in greater detail for APAC and other key markets around the world.

Leatherhead Food Research members are kept up to date with changing regulations like these through the weekly Global Legal Highlights newsletter. To learn more, get in touch with our membership team at [email protected].