Oh Yu-Kyoung, Minister of the Ministery of Food and Drug Safety, will visit the first "Ttunteun Food Store" in Gangdong-gu, Seoul, on the 12th to inspect the site and hold a roundtable with local governments, the convenience store industry, and consumer groups to revitalize the store.
Ttunteun Food Stores display items by category—fruits, vegetables, high-protein/low-sugar/low-sodium foods, and children's favorite foods with quality certification—to make it easy to find foods that support a healthy diet. The goal is to create an environment where schoolchildren can comfortably use convenience stores near schools and academies.
The store can be identified from the outside by the "Ttunteun Food Store" sign. Inside, shelves carry green "Ttunteun Food" show cards and guide markings.
Since Mar. this year, it has been a pilot project, and through Feb. next year, the Ministery of Food and Drug Safety, local governments, and the convenience store industry will work together to expand the current 121 stores to more than 300 within the year. Detailed information on Ttunteun Food Stores is available on the Food Safety Korea website.
Oh Yu-Kyoung, head of the Ministery of Food and Drug Safety, said, "These days, many children buy food directly at convenience stores, and I worry whether they might be consuming foods that are too sweet and salty," and added, "Because convenience stores are a primary place where our people buy food, we launched this project hoping our children could eat even slightly healthier foods there."
Kim Heung-sik, head of Product Division 1 at Seven-Eleven, said, "We will work to create an environment in convenience stores where consumers can more easily recognize and purchase not only existing healthy foods for children but also health-management trend items such as high-protein beverages and nutrition bars."