한국에서 시판 중인 밀키트의 식품표시 특성과 영양표시를 통한 영양 함량 평가

Abstract

Consumer demand for meal kits is high and rapidly increasing. The aim of this study was to investigate the status of food and nutrition labeling with focus on the energy, sugars, and sodium levels of meal kit products sold in Korea. This investigation was conducted by visiting the official websites of manufacturers, and the data obtained were compared and evaluated by meal kit and storage types. Prices, total servings, weights, recipes, and cooking times were labeled on more than 90% of all 497 products examined, but only 228 (45.9%) provided nutrition labeling. The percentage of nutrition labeling was the highest for rice dishes at 62.5%, followed by side dishes (48.3%), soups (45.6%), and noodles (37.0%). In addition, the nutrition labeling percentage was significantly higher for refrigerated products (48.9%) than frozen products (46.1%). Average meal kit price and number of servings were 14,670 won and 1.9, and average meal weight and cooking time were 571.3 g and 10.5 min, respectively. Average calorie contents were 129.3 kcal/100 g, and 392.9 kcal/serving. The energy and carbohydrate contents per serving of noodles were significantly higher than those of other products, and the sodium contents of side dishes were significantly lower than those of other meal kits. In particular, average meal kit sodium content was high at 162.6% of the reference value (1/3 of the adequate intake for Korean adults). Furthermore, average sodium content per serving was significantly higher for frozen than refrigerated products. These results show meal kit products with appropriate calorie, sugars, and sodium contents and labeled with nutritional contents should be provided for consumers.