The South Korean government has imposed tougher criteria on ready-to-eat (RTE) and ready-to-cook (RTC) instant products that want to make healthier nutritional claims on pack, in an expansion of rules first placed on instant noodles earlier this year. South Korea has been on the warpath against high-salt and high-sugar foods and beverages for the past several years, especially within the instant convenience foods space. Several months on, the government has now prepared to expand the reach of these healthier product labelling standards to more products in the country, starting with RTE and RTC instant foods. The most common plastic types observed were polyamide, polyurethane and polystyrene, comprising 22.8%, 18.2%, and 8.5% of the number of particles of all microplastics, respectively. This issue leads to an increased and wider proliferation and accumulation of microplastics and nanoplastics in the environment,"​ said the study authors.

Source: Daily Nation July 19, 2022 03:22 UTC