Table 3.
Traffic-light assessment according to Korea Ministry of Food and Drug Safety (KFDA) guidelines(37) for national brand (NB) and private brand (PB) ready meal (RM) products, by category, in the sample of 506 RM products (PB, n 91; NB, n 415), South Korea, February–May 2017
| Category | Nutrient | NB (n 415) | PB (n 91) | Total (n 506) | |||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Traffic light | Red | Amber | Green | Traffic light | Red | Amber | Green | Traffic light | Red | Amber | Green | ||||||||||||||
| Median | IQR | n | % | n | % | n | % | Median | IQR | n | % | n | % | n | % | Median | IQR | n | % | n | % | n | % | ||
| Refrigerated soups/stews | Fat(g) | 3·0 | 2·0–6·0 | 2 | 4·3 | 23 | 48·9 | 22 | 46·8 | 4·9 | 2·2–11·0 | 6 | 12·5 | 26 | 54·2 | 16 | 33·3 | 4·0 | 2·0–8·9 | 8 | 8·4 | 49 | 51·6 | 38 | 40·0 |
| Na (mg) | 820·0 | 590·0–1210·0 | 34 | 72·3 | 12 | 25·5 | 1 | 2·1 | 1194·5 | 707·8–1615·8 | 41 | 85·4 | 6 | 12·5 | 1 | 2·1 | 980·0 | 632·0–1450·0 | 75 | 78·9 | 18 | 18·9 | 2 | 2·1 | |
| Sugar (g) | 1·0 | 0·0–3·0 | 0 | 0·0 | 13 | 27·7 | 34 | 72·3 | 2·0 | 0·0–4·0 | 2 | 4·2 | 19 | 39·6 | 27 | 56·3 | 1·0 | 0·0–4·0 | 2 | 2·1 | 32 | 33·7 | 61 | 64·2 | |
| Saturated fat (g) | 1·0 | 1·0–1·0 | 1 | 2·1 | 8 | 17·0 | 38 | 80·9 | 1·7 | 0·7–3·5 | 10 | 20·8 | 17 | 35·4 | 21 | 43·8 | 1·0 | 0·9–2·0 | 11 | 11·6 | 25 | 26·3 | 59 | 62·1 | |
| Refrigerated noodles | Fat (g) | 4·0 | 2·0–8·0 | 7 | 8·0 | 42 | 48·3 | 38 | 43·7 | 4·1 | 1·6–6·0 | 2 | 11·1 | 9 | 50·0 | 7 | 38·9 | 4·0 | 2·0–7·5 | 9 | 8·6 | 51 | 48·6 | 45 | 42·9 |
| Na (mg) | 1829·0 | 1180·0–2120·0 | 85 | 97·7 | 1 | 1·1 | 1 | 1·1 | 1889·0 | 1574·8–2460·3 | 18 | 100·0 | 0 | 0·0 | 0 | 0·0 | 1830·0 | 1295·0–2135·0 | 103 | 98·1 | 1 | 1·0 | 1 | 1·0 | |
| Sugar(g) | 14·0 | 9·0–20·0 | 33 | 37·9 | 53 | 60·9 | 1 | 1·1 | 6·0 | 3·8–12·3 | 1 | 5·6 | 15 | 83·3 | 2 | 11·1 | 12·0 | 7·0–19·0 | 34 | 32·4 | 68 | 64·8 | 3 | 2·9 | |
| Saturated fat (g) | 1·0 | 0·0–2·0 | 7 | 8·0 | 18 | 20·7 | 62 | 71·3 | 1·0 | 0·6–1·5 | 0 | 0·0 | 4 | 22·2 | 14 | 77·8 | 1·0 | 0·0–2·0 | 7 | 6·7 | 22 | 21·0 | 76 | 72·4 | |
| Frozen rice/noodles | Fat (g) | 8·0 | 6·0–11·0 | 9 | 11·7 | 67 | 87·0 | 1 | 1·3 | 8·0 | 5·8–8·3 | 0 | 0·0 | 9 | 90·0 | 1 | 10·0 | 8·0 | 6·0–11·0 | 9 | 10·3 | 76 | 87·4 | 2 | 2·3 |
| Na (mg) | 790·0 | 635·0–960·0 | 61 | 79·2 | 15 | 19·5 | 1 | 1·3 | 560·0 | 355·0–695·0 | 3 | 30·0 | 7 | 70·0 | 0 | 0·0 | 780·0 | 580·0–930·0 | 64 | 73·6 | 22 | 25·3 | 1 | 1·1 | |
| Sugar (g) | 4·0 | 2·0–6·0 | 0 | 0·0 | 49 | 63·6 | 28 | 36·4 | 2·0 | 1·0–4·0 | 0 | 0·0 | 4 | 40·0 | 6 | 60·0 | 3·0 | 2·0–5·0 | 0 | 0·0 | 53 | 60·9 | 34 | 39·1 | |
| Saturated fat (g) | 2·0 | 2·0–3·0 | 9 | 11·7 | 52 | 67·5 | 16 | 20·8 | 1·1 | 0·8–1·1 | 0 | 0·0 | 1 | 10·0 | 9 | 90·0 | 2·0 | 1·1–3·0 | 9 | 10·3 | 53 | 60·9 | 25 | 28·7 | |
| Frozen dumplings | Fat (g) | 12·0 | 9·0–14·0 | 82 | 40·2 | 122 | 59·8 | 0 | 0·0 | 9·0 | 7·0–28·0 | 5 | 33·3 | 10 | 66·7 | 0 | 0·0 | 11·0 | 9·0–14·0 | 87 | 39·7 | 132 | 60·3 | 0 | 0·0 |
| Na (mg) | 470·0 | 400·0–570·0 | 40 | 19·6 | 164 | 80·4 | 0 | 0·0 | 450·0 | 390·0–1115·0 | 4 | 26·7 | 11 | 73·3 | 0 | 0·0 | 470·0 | 400·0–570·0 | 44 | 20·1 | 175 | 79·9 | 0 | 0·0 | |
| Sugar (g) | 3·0 | 2·0–4·0 | 2 | 1·0 | 112 | 54·9 | 90 | 44·1 | 6·0 | 3·0–10·0 | 0 | 0·0 | 12 | 80·0 | 3 | 20·0 | 3·0 | 2·0–4·0 | 2 | 0·9 | 124 | 56·6 | 93 | 42·5 | |
| Saturated fat (g) | 4·0 | 3·0–5·0 | 89 | 43·6 | 109 | 53·4 | 6 | 2·9 | 2·7 | 2·0–8·0 | 4 | 26·7 | 10 | 66·7 | 1 | 6·7 | 4·0 | 3·0–5·0 | 93 | 42·5 | 119 | 54·3 | 7 | 3·2 | |
IQR, interquartile range.
Shading reflects the nutritional evaluation per serving is according to current KFDA guidelines for meal replacements on front-of-pack nutrition labelling(37); this is available only for fat, Na, sugar and saturated fat. Green traffic-light labelling refers to low, amber traffic-light labelling refers to medium and red traffic-light labelling refers high content of the nutrient. KFDA has recommended voluntary traffic-light labelling primarily on foods that children tend to prefer since 2011.