Natural Food?!

[TriKorea]

I found some cereal imported from the USA last week, I bought it - it was quite healthy filled with many grains, chia seeds, flax seeds... the box said "All Natural Ingredients" on it... however in order to see that I had to peel off the sticker that Emart had stuck on them. The stickers were green like the box and meant to just cover the words on the front the said "all natural" and on the side that talked about it being natural and the process of picking ingredients/making cereal.  Does anyone know WHY would Emart cover this up???? Does Korea not think American food can be natural? I really can't think of a reason why!!!!

[gangwon]

I've noticed this on a few things from the UK as well. I recently bought a box of oat cakes from Shinsagae and they had covered up the wheat free bullet point in the blurb on the side of the box. Maybe Korea opens up each box and sprinkles some flour in there? The manufacturers website makes a point of saying that all their products are wheat free so it must have been done here.

Charlie

[IslandGook]

Just a guess: in many countries, the use of labels like natural, fair trade, or organic are highly regulated.  Maybe there is a discrepancy between the requirements and the products, and Emart is choosing to still stock the goods, but to cover over the parts that might cause problems. 

[Davey]

Just a guess: in many countries, the use of labels like natural, fair trade, or organic are highly regulated.  Maybe there is a discrepancy between the requirements and the products, and Emart is choosing to still stock the goods, but to cover over the parts that might cause problems.

Your guess is correct. If you go to Costco and you'll find the same thing. In the case of Quaker Oats, the claim that oatmeal helps reduce cholesterol is covered.

[Chato]

Yeah, I also noticed they covered each can of redbull where it makes the claim that it improves concentration or performance or something like that.
I figured it was just stricter regulations as to what you can say about your food products.

[eggplant_tyrant]

I think you can take that as a hint that those claims are spurious. In the US, you're allowed to make all kinds of crazy health claims without any need to back them up, as long as you use waffle words somewhere, like small print that says that those claims aren't verified by the FDA. Korea seems to want you to actually be able to prove those claims before they allow you write about them on your product's packaging. In this case, I imagine that not all of the ingredients were natural, or else Korea has stricter definitions of "natural" than the US does.

The Korean workaround is to label things "wellbeing" -- an empty phrase that nonetheless sounds like it's good for your health. I have, for instance, seen "wellbeing" makgeolli (rice alcohol) with a random sprig of plant floating in it, told my co-teacher about this amusing oxymoron, and been answered with, "Hmm, yes, plants and rice are very good for you." I've also seen "wellbeing" burgers advertised by Burger King.

[DWAEDGIMORIGUKBAP]

Meh, everything you can eat is natural.  Salt, e numbers, processed cheese, they all come from the earth.

[hokeypokey]

My favorite label that I see i  the states is "chemical free." A marketing campaign is for those who failed 6th grade science. 
Everything on this Earth is a chemical/ compound. 
Telling me that your product is "chemical free" doesn't give me any confidence in it's safety.