[Fact Check] Check cases of false advertisements for cosmetics and health functional foods!

[Fact Check]

■ Broadcast: YTN Radio FM 94.5 (20:20-21:00)
■ Air date: October 12, 2024 (Saturday)
■ Host: announcer Choi Hwi
■ Bold: Selected number fact checker

* The text below may differ from the actual broadcast content, so please check the broadcast for more accurate information.
◇ Announcer Choi Hwi (hereinafter referred to as Choi Hwi): It's time to fact-check the news that needs to be confirmed among the news of the past week. Let's meet Cho Sun-soo's fact checker on the phone. Hello,

◆ Fact checker of Cho Seon-su (hereinafter referred to as Cho Seon-su): Yes. Hello,

◇ Choi Hwi: Today's fact-checking topic is false advertising of cosmetics and food. There are so many advertisements on the Internet or SNS that I wonder if this is true.

◆ Selection number: False and exaggerated advertisements in the cosmetics and food sectors are not about today. There are a lot of advertisements that think it will look pretty if you apply it, and that you will get better from all kinds of diseases beyond energy if you eat it. Considering that the epitome of false exaggerated advertisements has been "pharmacist" and that elderly people suffer a lot of fraud, it is a serious problem in the past and now.

◇ Choi Hwi: As the season changes, many people suffer from allergic rhinitis, and many people are interested in improving their immunity. I heard that the results of the crackdown on false food advertisements have been announced.

◆ Selection number: According to the data submitted by the Ministry of Food and Drug Safety to Representative Seo Mi-hwa of the Democratic Party of Korea on the 30th of last month, 71 online unfair advertisements of functional-labeled foods were detected by July this year. This is a more than 2.5 times increase compared to 28 cases detected in the past year. The main violations were 44 advertisements that were not self-deliberated in advance even though they were functional-labeled foods, 16 advertisements misleading and confusing health functional foods, 7 advertisements for disease prevention treatment, and 4 false and exaggerated advertisements. Apart from
, the Ministry of Food and Drug Safety recently checked online advertising posts for food and cosmetics. It also uncovered 194 false and excessive advertisements.

◇ Choi Hwi: Let's take a look at the cases of detection. First, please point out the food sector.

◆ Selection number: Yes. I recently saw an advertisement about a product that is good for treating rhinitis on the Internet. It advertises that it is a product containing a lot of patented specific ingredients jointly developed by pharmacists and oriental doctors. I'm sending you various reviews, and I advertised it as if the rhinitis that was decades old would disappear in a single shot of this product. I looked for a long time to see if this was a medicine or a health functional food, and eventually found out that it was a processed product of other foods. If this happens, it's 100% false exaggeration advertisement. I'll tell you the details later. The
Food and Drug Administration conducted a joint inspection with local governments for two days from the 5th to the 6th of last month. We found 212 online posts that violated the Act on Labeling and Advertising of Food, etc. We've only been checking it for two days, but there are so many. The inspection was conducted on posts selling food and health functional foods by habitual violators who have repeatedly conducted illegal and unfair advertisements in online shopping malls. If you look at the
case, ▲ Advertisements that make regular foods be recognized as functional health foods by advertising them as 'key growth nutritional supplements' and 'diet' ▲ Advertisements that advertise regular foods as 'high blood pressure', 'diabetes', 'cancer' and 'hair loss' that could be recognized as effective in preventing and treating diseases ▲ I bought it right away because I was recommended polycosanol for good cholesterol management. It is said to help improve blood circulation and blood pressure.' Advertisements that mislead consumers ▲ Advertisements that expressed the function, action, effect and effectiveness of body tissues such as 'toxin removal', 'poison discharge', 'person who is easily swollen', and 'person who is uncomfortable due to indigestion' ▲ There were advertisements that made people recognize them as medicines such as 'nutritional tonic' and 'soycemic medicine'.

◇ [CHOI] I have a sense of it. Please also explain in detail the criteria for distinguishing false advertisements.

◆ Selection number: The law that regulates false advertising of food is the Food Labeling and Advertising Act. The food labeling advertisements prohibited by this law are as follows. ▲ Marks or advertisements that may be recognized as effective in preventing and treating diseases ▲ Marks or advertisements that may be recognized as medicines ▲ Signs or advertisements that may be false or exaggerated marks or advertisements that may be recognized as health functional foods ▲ Signs or advertisements that slander other companies or their products ▲ Signs or advertisements that unfairly compare oneself or one's food products with other business owners or other business owners' food without objective grounds ▲ Signs that promote speculation or use obscene expressions to significantly violate public morality or social ethics. It is defined as
. Therefore, if you eat it because it is a regular food, you are subject to punishment for any disease that is cured, or if you mistake it for a health functional food even though it is a regular food. The general food advertised as mentioned earlier is good for treating rhinitis, regardless of the length, is a false exaggeration advertisement.

◇ Choi Hwi: What were some false advertisements in the cosmetics sector?

◆ Selection water: The definition of cosmetics is <It is an item used in a similar way, such as applying, rubbing, or spraying on the human body to clean and beautify the human body, adding charm, changing the appearance brightly, or maintaining or promoting the health of skin and hair, and having a minor effect on the human body>. According to the Cosmetics Act, which governs the manufacturing, import, and export of cosmetics, labeling and advertising that causes consumers to mistake cosmetics for pharmaceuticals is prohibited.
Therefore, if you prevent or treat diseases such as 'improving immunity' and 'improving blood circulation', or use advertisements such as microneedle to pass through the skin barrier layer, the stratum corneum, and the epidermis to convey active ingredients into the skin, you will be punished.
Also, cosmetics have a slight effect on the human body, so advertisements that show effects and effects on improving the body, such as 'improving the number of pores' and 'making the eyes of teenagers', are false and excessive advertisements that mislead consumers. "How does your body change when you use cosmetics? " These advertisements cannot be established from the beginning.

◇ Choi Hwi: But there are products that are marketed as functional cosmetics, right?

◆ Selection number: Yes. The Cosmetics Act allows functional cosmetics in five areas. ▲Skin whitening ▲Wrinkle improvement ▲Sunscreen sunscreen ▲Hair-related dyeing bleaching nutrition supplements ▲Products that help prevent or improve dryness, cracks, falls out, and keratinization due to weakening of skin or hair function. Each item must be reviewed for safety and effectiveness before it can be sold as functional cosmetics. Before purchasing, you must check whether functional cosmetics are recognized by the Ministry of Food and Drug Safety, and it is recommended not to purchase products that are beyond the efficacy and effectiveness of functional cosmetics such as wrinkle removal and hair loss prevention. There are a lot of shampoos that advertise that they are good for hair loss
. However, the official position of the Ministry of Food and Drug Safety is that "there is no shampoo that prevents or treats hair loss." He also emphasized, "Since hair loss treatments (medicine) are absorbed into the scalp and work, there are no products approved for washing hair like shampoo."

◇ Choi Hwi: Hair loss shampoos are selling a lot and advertising a lot. What do you mean there is no shampoo that prevents or treats hair loss? Please explain it a little more.

◆ Selection number: If the manufacturer has been reviewed or reported as a functional cosmetic for hair loss, the effectiveness and effectiveness can be indicated that it helps relieve the symptoms of hair loss. If you are judged or reported as a functional cosmetic, you can use expressions such as 'Hair loss shampoo', 'Hair loss management', and 'Hair loss care'. In fact, if you look at the advertisement of hair loss shampoo products from affiliates of large corporations that dominate the domestic hair loss shampoo market, it says that it helps relieve hair loss symptoms.
And numerous hair loss-related products are creating images as if using our products alone will solve hair loss concerns. However, no hair loss shampoo makes hair grow or fall out. It means that there is no such 'hair shampoos' that grow rich without losing your hair when you wash your hair while buying shampoo. For those who are concerned about hair loss, it is recommended to go to a dermatologist for treatment and use the medicine "Hair loss treatment" according to the prescription.

◇ Choi Hwi: Let's take a look at the cases of false and exaggerated advertisements of cosmetics caught.

◆ Selection water: Types that can be mistaken for medicines include anti-inflammatory, antibacterial, fungal bacteria suppression, skin sedation, immune enhancement, blood circulation enhancement, anti-inflammatory effect dermatitis, inflammatory acne, hair follicles, atopic dermatitis, etc. You shouldn't trust cosmetics that advertise them as if they can cure certain diseases. Rather, it is clear that it is subject to punishment. The following is not a functional cosmetics, but general cosmetics, and it is a type of advertising as if it is functional. <"Mint ampoule that melts hidden blemishes," "Mint blemishes in skin that melts away as you apply it," "Reduce blemishes in skin after two weeks of use," and "patent technology developed for explosive whitening through liposomalization"> are mentioned. Next, consumer misconceptions, that is, cases of deceiving consumers contrary to the facts, etc. <'Reduce the number of pores', 'Teenage eyes will make it in 4 weeks', and 'controlling the sebum in the pores'> are included. How can cosmetics reduce the number of pores and make the eyes of teenagers in four weeks? Products that lie like this should be punished by consumers.

◇ Choi Hwi: Why is there a constant stream of false hype around food and cosmetics?

◆ Selection number: First of all, we have no choice but to point out the details of manufacturers and sellers. Regardless of the size, there is no choice but to be motivated to increase sales by making our products look good. But you have to advertise with the facts as they are, but you mix lies. On top of that, consumers have less information than manufacturers and sellers, and the existence of information asymmetry that cannot be specifically verified is one of the reasons why false advertising is prevailing.
The government, the media, and civic groups will have to put more effort into detecting false exaggerated advertisements. Even if the government and local governments crack down, there is a lack of manpower, and it is common to take a brief stand when cracking down and then send out false advertisements as if they are looking again after the period. The punishment of
is also leading to false advertising. According to the Food Labeling and Advertising Act, those caught for false advertisements are subject to corrective orders, collection and disposal, suspension of business, suspension of manufacturing of items, publication of violations, imprisonment for up to 10 years, or fines of up to 100 million won. However, most of them are only corrective orders, and the announcement of violations is divided into the websites of each local government and the Ministry of Food and Drug Safety. Who's going to the website of a local government to find out about the detection of false advertisements? It needs to be more effective. It is necessary to increase the effectiveness of the punishment so that once you are caught playing with food, you will be ruined immediately.

◇ Choi Hwi: Many point out that such systems as health functional foods, functional-labeled foods, and functional cosmetics are too confusing and complex. .

◆ Selection number: Yes. It does not clearly separate medicines from non-medical ones, but has set up various gray areas such as health functional foods and functional-labeled foods in the middle. This contains a lot of intentions to promote the food industry. In the case of functional-labeled foods, a warning sign that "this product is not a health functional food certified by the Ministry of Food and Drug Safety" must be displayed on the product main display. However, the functional content display item contains soybean dietary fiber, which is known to help with bowel movements. It's supposed to be written like that. Then, from the consumer's point of view, it is confusing whether or not it means that eating this improves bowel movement. Rather, the system itself has side effects that encourage confusion among consumers and increase the temptation of false exaggerated advertisements to manufacturers and sellers. It seems that supplementary measures should be taken in a way that saves the purpose of the legislation and prevents side effects. Consumers are good for their health, they cure diseases. Don't just look at these advertisements and choose the product, but it's necessary to check whether it's a health functional food or not. I hope you remember that you can't cure your disease with food, and if you're sick, you need to go to the hospital and get treatment.

◇ Choi Hwi: Fact-checking is essential to keep your daily safety. That's all for today. This has been fact checker of Cho Sun-soo.