[Anchor]
The "Chicken Weight Labeling System" has officially been implemented to prevent the so-called "shrinkflation" practice of reducing the portion size of chicken while keeping prices the same.
The system requires menus to display the weight of the chicken, but is it being properly followed? Reporter Jo Yoon-ha investigated the scene.
[Reporter]
A franchise chicken restaurant in Seoul.
Looking at the kiosk to order chicken, no weight is displayed.
The menu board is the same.
[(Is this the official menu board?) Yes, that's right. (Is there anything about the weight written here?) We don't have anything written down separately, but it's basically 800g or more.]
At another brand's restaurant, there is no weight indication on either the menu board or the walls.
[(Sir, is it not written how many grams this is?) For bone-in, ours is about 943g or so, and boneless is 700g.]
At yet another brand's store, the chicken weight is hidden behind a country-of-origin labeling poster.
[(Do you not know how many grams this is?) It's between 950 and 1050g.]
When the reporting team randomly checked 10 stores, one from each of the 10 major brands subject to the chicken weight labeling system, 3 of them failed to properly display the weights.
Headquarters for these brands stated that they have guided all franchise stores on weight labeling and conducted inspections, and that if any stores were found to have omissions, they would check and take action.
What is the actual weight of the chicken? We purchased some directly and weighed them.
Some chickens marked with a weight of 950g actually weighed up to 1,300g, while others weighed as little as 626g.
This is up to 37% more or 34% less than the indicated weight, making the weight labels practically inconsistent.
However, the Ministry of Food and Drug Safety's stance is that it is difficult to conclude these are violations of the weight labeling system.
This is because the labeling standard is based on the weight of the raw chicken before cooking, not the weight of the chicken after cooking.
The Ministry explained that since the final weight of chickens of the same size varies depending on the cooking process and recipe, they are required to display the weight "before cooking."
Even after the chicken weight labeling system was introduced in December of last year, consumer complaints about meager chicken portions remain frequent.
[Shin Su-bin / Gangseo-gu, Seoul: I feel like I eat chicken without knowing how many grams it is every time I order, I've never felt like the portions were generous, and they always feel lacking.]
Because a large portion of chicken orders are delivered, and even when visiting restaurants, chicken is served cooked, making it difficult to know the weight of the raw chicken, voices are growing that the system should be improved in a way that is practically helpful to consumers.
(Video Editing: Kim Jong-tae, VJ: Shin So-young)
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