This article was published on Sept. 4, 2025, at 3:38 p.m. on the ChosunBiz RM Report site.
A significant number of coffee and tea products sold as decaffeinated in Korea still contain caffeine, leading to calls for regulatory improvements. The current system allows products to be labeled as 'decaffeinated' if 90% or more of the caffeine is removed from materials and supplies. Participants at the Consumer Policy Committee under the Lee Jae-myung government, which met on the 2nd, recommended to the Ministry of Food and Drug Safety that the standards for decaffeinated labeling be revised due to the gap between consumer perceptions and the regulations.
According to the related industry on the 4th, the current Ministry of Food and Drug Safety announcement mandates total caffeine content labeling not only for products distributed in convenience stores and supermarkets but also for coffee sold directly from coffee shops and bakeries. If a product contains more than 0.15mg of caffeine per mL, it must include a warning such as 'Caution for children, pregnant women, and caffeine-sensitive individuals.' Additionally, it must indicate whether it contains high caffeine or specify the exact total caffeine content.
A key issue is that a product can be labeled as decaffeinated if 90% or more of the caffeine is removed from the materials and supplies. The European Union (EU) requires that more than 99% be removed for a product to be labeled as decaffeinated. However, this is merely a guideline, and in practice, it is managed more rigorously. In the EU, roasted coffee must have a caffeine content of less than 0.1%, and instant coffee must have less than 0.3%. Generally, a recommended range is to have 2 to 5mg of caffeine per cup (about 120 to 150mL). Compared to this, famous coffee franchises in Korea have decaffeinated coffee that contains at least 5mg and up to 26mg of caffeine, indicating a considerably lower standard.
In the United States, regulations govern the allowable residue levels of solvents used in decaffeination processes. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) sets a standard that methylene chloride must be below 10 parts per million (ppm). Ten ppm is approximately equivalent to ten drops of water in 10 gallons. In contrast, Korea's standards focus solely on the removal of caffeine, leading to criticism that they do not adequately reflect the actual caffeine levels left in products consumed by consumers.
A spokesperson for the Consumer Policy Committee noted, 'There is a discrepancy between consumer perceptions that caffeine is almost absent and the guidelines, so we decided to recommend to the Ministry of Food and Drug Safety that the labeling standards be reset based on the residual caffeine content, referring to international examples.' Although the committee's recommendations are not obligatory, the Ministry of Food and Drug Safety should review the current situation and consider regulatory improvements.
In fact, survey results related to consumer perceptions have been emerging one after another. In April, the Citizens' Coalition for Economic Justice issued a statement calling for the Ministry of Food and Drug Safety to adjust the decaffeinated labeling criteria from 90% to 97%. According to the Citizens' Coalition for Economic Justice, the Busan Consumer Agency's survey revealed that 79% of those who drink decaffeinated coffee perceive coffee with a caffeine removal rate of over 97% as 'decaffeinated coffee.' Specifically, 55% (55 people) recognized decaffeinated coffee as having a caffeine removal rate of 97% to 99%, while 24% (24 people) thought it was over 99%.
Among those who do not drink decaffeinated coffee, 74.2% responded that they perceive the caffeine removal rate as 97% or higher. Those believing it to be between 97% and 99% comprised 40% (48 people), while those perceiving it to be over 99% accounted for 34.2% (41 people). This indicates that a majority of consumers perceive a much stricter acceptable residual level for decaffeinated standards than the current regulations.
The demand for decaffeinated coffee has been steadily increasing. According to data received by Representative Park Hee-seung of the Health and Welfare Committee from the Ministry of Food and Drug Safety, domestic production of decaffeinated coffee rose about 7.5 times from 1,637 tons in 2019 to 12,359 tons in 2023. The scale of decaffeinated coffee imports also increased approximately 2.1 times from 671 tons in 2019 to 1,410 tons in 2023. Last year, Starbucks Korea sold about 32.7 million decaffeinated beverages, representing a 55% increase from the previous year. The Ministry of Food and Drug Safety stated, 'In relation to the recommendations from the Consumer Policy Committee, we are reviewing regulatory improvements.'