How healthy is Korean Food?
Saturday, 3 October 2009
Korean food is known throughout the world as healthy, but based on what evidence?
In an effort to seek scientific proof for the health benefits of hansik (Korean cuisine), agencies from Korea and the United States held a joint symposium recently on the subject “Strategy for Regular Coordination on Home Nutrition, Food Safety and Function: Food for the Korean and American Diet.”
The event, which took place from June 16 to 18, was cosponsored by the Korea Rural Development Administration and the Agriculture Research Service, part of the United States Department of Agriculture. Experts inquired more deeply into the health benefits of popular Korean dishes, while also dealing with some of the possible benefits of Korean cuisine for people from other countries.
The joint study was part of a concerted effort by the local government to promote Korean food abroad. On May 4, the government established a special task force including government leaders, academics and prominent figures responsible for globalizing and commercializing Korean food. The government aims to position Korean food among the world’s top five cuisines within 10 years, and lays out the current top five as Chinese, French, Italian, Japanese and Thai food.
Even further back, last year, the Korea Rural Development Administration inaugurated its Department of Korea Food Research for Globalization. And while there have been many efforts both inside and outside the country to promote local cuisine, for example, by holding special banquets in Paris or London, where people still have little knowledge of Korean food, this symposium marked the first time anyone had undertaken an international and systematic study of Korean food. By acquiring scientific proof of the health benefits of the Korean cuisine, the government surmised that it would be easier to persuade and promote the food.
Local researchers from the Food Globalization Department, with prominent nutritionists and other experts from the administration and its American counterpart, pondered how Korean food might be introduced and localized abroad.
On the agenda at sessions over the three days of the symposium were subjects including “Using Dietary Intake Survey Information to Assess Dietary Patterns and Health,” “Functional Foods and Human Health” and “Food Safety Research.” There was also a spotlight on some state-run nutritional centers in the United States, and Korean and American researchers discussed culinary exchange programs.
But the local administration isn’t just reaching out to the United States.
“Plans have been made for later joint research with other developed nations such as the Netherlands,” an official at the Korea Rural Development Administration said. In the coming months and years, “the researchers will study the nutritional value of Korean food through scientific research and release the results together so that the world will know that Korean dishes can be as beneficial as the so-called Mediterranean diet, thus contributing to the globalization of hansik.”
In an effort to seek scientific proof for the health benefits of hansik (Korean cuisine), agencies from Korea and the United States held a joint symposium recently on the subject “Strategy for Regular Coordination on Home Nutrition, Food Safety and Function: Food for the Korean and American Diet.”
The event, which took place from June 16 to 18, was cosponsored by the Korea Rural Development Administration and the Agriculture Research Service, part of the United States Department of Agriculture. Experts inquired more deeply into the health benefits of popular Korean dishes, while also dealing with some of the possible benefits of Korean cuisine for people from other countries.
The joint study was part of a concerted effort by the local government to promote Korean food abroad. On May 4, the government established a special task force including government leaders, academics and prominent figures responsible for globalizing and commercializing Korean food. The government aims to position Korean food among the world’s top five cuisines within 10 years, and lays out the current top five as Chinese, French, Italian, Japanese and Thai food.
Even further back, last year, the Korea Rural Development Administration inaugurated its Department of Korea Food Research for Globalization. And while there have been many efforts both inside and outside the country to promote local cuisine, for example, by holding special banquets in Paris or London, where people still have little knowledge of Korean food, this symposium marked the first time anyone had undertaken an international and systematic study of Korean food. By acquiring scientific proof of the health benefits of the Korean cuisine, the government surmised that it would be easier to persuade and promote the food.
Local researchers from the Food Globalization Department, with prominent nutritionists and other experts from the administration and its American counterpart, pondered how Korean food might be introduced and localized abroad.
On the agenda at sessions over the three days of the symposium were subjects including “Using Dietary Intake Survey Information to Assess Dietary Patterns and Health,” “Functional Foods and Human Health” and “Food Safety Research.” There was also a spotlight on some state-run nutritional centers in the United States, and Korean and American researchers discussed culinary exchange programs.
But the local administration isn’t just reaching out to the United States.
“Plans have been made for later joint research with other developed nations such as the Netherlands,” an official at the Korea Rural Development Administration said. In the coming months and years, “the researchers will study the nutritional value of Korean food through scientific research and release the results together so that the world will know that Korean dishes can be as beneficial as the so-called Mediterranean diet, thus contributing to the globalization of hansik.”