<Anchor> This is a



friendly economic time. Today (25th), I will be with reporter Kim Hye-min. Recently, I saw the term 'funsumer', what is it?



<Reporter>



First of all, funsumer is a combination of fun, fun and consumer in English. We pursue fun consumption beyond simply purchasing products.



In particular, with the recent spread of COVID-19, people are reluctant to go out. It's boring, so even if you buy one, your eyes will be drawn to something new or unique.



The beginning of Funsumer in the Korean distribution industry was craft beer at convenience stores. Domestic craft beer took the place where Japanese beer disappeared due to boycott.



Among them, beer in collaboration with a flour company was very popular. Thanks to this, the convenience store that sold this beer saw sales in the second quarter of this year jump 10% compared to last year.



Since then, products that have collaborated with unexpected brands have been released one after another like a fashion.



<Anchor>



I also see a lot of products that have a slightly unique eye-catching look. But are there any problems with these products?



<Reporter> In



fact, when food and food brands are combined, there is no big problem, but there are constant concerns that foods made by imitation of chemical products pose a risk of safety accidents.



For example, chocolates were sold in shoe polish cases, and soft drinks in the shape of a pen came out. It looks the same as the caterpillar, but when you open it, there is a product with candy in it.



Also, a body wash product that looks like milk was released. When children come in contact with this kind of collaboration product, they think they are eating, so they can eat real bitumen or goosebumps.



In fact, according to the data from the Korea Consumer Agency, most of the accidents related to household chemical products occurred when children ate products that children should not eat.



The <Anchor>



screen looks exactly the same. For children, I think it can be really confusing. So these funsumer products are also starting to be regulated.



<Reporter>



Yes. A bill banning the sale of dangerous funsumer products has been passed by the National Assembly. On the 14th, the Ministry of Food and Drug Safety announced a legislative notice of a partial amendment to the Enforcement Rules of the Act on the Labeling and Advertising of Food, etc., which are related regulations.



Among funsumer products, the prohibition of labels and advertisements that could be mistaken for household goods, etc., is mainly for children, so the main bans are school supplies and household chemical products.



School supplies are frequently used by children, and household chemical products are included in the ban because ingestion can cause serious disability or even death.



When this amendment goes into effect, the aforementioned bitumen chocolate, pen-shaped beverages, and candy canes will all cease to be sold.



However, some products evaded this regulation, and chocolate products in the shape of a Go ball were excluded from this regulation because they are neither school supplies nor household chemicals.



Even if it is not included in the regulation, it is important for companies to take social responsibility and not sell products that are at risk of safety accidents from the beginning.



<Anchor> In the



end, I think it should be understood as a regulation to protect our children. However, in addition to this, to protect children, it is said that the sale of food made after cosmetics is prohibited.



<Reporter>



Food-shaped cosmetics are very easy for children to understand and eat.



In the meantime, there were no regulations, so cosmetic companies were launching various products. There were also cupcake-type bath products, rice cake-shaped solid soap, and yogurt-type mask packs.



Collaboration products that combine the two brands include mayonnaise-shaped hair packs, body lotions identical to banana milk, and hand creams.



In the future, the manufacture, import, or sale of cosmetics that imitate the shape, container, and packaging of food is prohibited.



In fact, this regulation is a bit late in Korea. In places like the European Union and the UK, the marketing and export of food-shaped products has been banned for quite some time.



If there are consumers who have already purchased and used these products, you should be careful to keep them out of the reach of small children so that they do not mistakenly eat them as food.