What alcohol related issues have you had this week? Here’s a summary of the most talked-about news of the week and interesting articles we’d like to share with you. Don’t waste your time searching for articles! Join mashija!
1. No butterbeer without butter!
The Seoul Regional Food and Drug Administration recently notified in advance of a 1-month suspension of manufacturing of the beer maker Buruguru’s Boulangerie Beurbier. It’s because of ‘butter beer’ made without butter. Börbier does not contain butter, but ‘Beur’, which means butter in French, is included in the product name, and the Ministry of Food and Drug Safety judged that it violated the law on labeling and of food products. According to the relevant law, to use the name of a raw material as a product name, the raw material must actually be used during manufacturing or processing, but the Ministry of Food and Drug Safety saw that this condition applies equally to the French name.
According to the Food Labeling and archyde news Act, ‘taste’ should not be used after the name of raw material or ingredient in the product name of a product that is flavored or flavored only with synthetic flavoring agents without using actual raw materials. It is necessary to use ‘incense’ because consumers can misunderstand or confuse the product with actual raw materials. In fact, if butter was not used, it should be sold as ‘butter-flavored beer’, not ‘butter-flavored beer’. The Ministry of Food and Drug Safety is known to have filed a complaint with the police against Buruguru and the seller, GS Retail. The intent is that during the sales process, an advertisement that could be mistaken for a beer containing butter was advertised. Buruguru said, “Whales do not go into whale rice. “Excessive interpretation,” he said, “even if we are actually punished, we will continue to call.
2. Suggestions for Reconsidering Specific Beer and Takju Price Linkage
Deputy Prime Minister for Economy and Finance Choo Kyung-ho said that a reexamination of the price linkage part of the specific tax system for beer and rice wine, which was reorganized in 2020, is necessary. The specific tax system was applied to beer and takju from 2020 through an agreement between the ruling and opposition parties. Unlike the closing price tax, the tax rate is adjusted each year according to the inflation rate. Unlike ad valorem tax, in which the tax naturally rises as product price rises, the specific tax burden is fixed and the tax rate is adjusted every year to reflect the rate of inflation. Considering the inflation rate (CPI), which reached 5.1% last year, the government has adjusted the specific tax rate of beer and takju this year to 70% of the CPI of the previous year. Deputy Prime Minister Chu expressed the need for a reexamination, saying, “In the case of beer, since it is linked to prices every year, it is affecting consumer selling prices even without other factors.”