Convenience Store Children's Drinks Loaded with Sugar... Is This Label Reassuring? [Matjalal X-File]

Analysis of Sugar Content and Ingredients in 12 Children's Beverages

Sugar and Added Sugar Limits Differ by Age Group

Consider Added Sugars in Mixed Drinks and Fructose in Fruit and Vegetable Juices

Ms. Sungmin Lim (alias, 37), a working mom raising two children aged 6 and 4, says that as the weather gets hotter, she faces more dilemmas when choosing drinks for her kids. While she usually tries to give them water and barley tea, it is not easy to persuade children who crave sweet drinks. Lim says, "On days when I have to pack snacks for daycare, all the other kids bring something, so if only my child doesn't have one, they feel left out. I don't want to give these drinks often because of the sugar, but when I see products labeled with the 'Children’s Preferred Food Quality Certification' from the Ministry of Food and Drug Safety, my guilt lessens a bit and I end up buying them."

With hot weather pushing temperatures above 30 degrees Celsius, more and more parents are searching for children's beverages. These days, consumers are increasingly analyzing calories and sugar content of drinks before consuming them. This is particularly true for drinks given to young children, where parents have no choice but to check the ingredients thoroughly.

In this edition of Matjalal X-File, we selected 12 types of children’s beverages—focusing on those sold in convenience stores for easy purchase during childcare, as well as top-selling products from online distribution channels suitable for bulk buying—and analyzed their ingredients. We will compare three main aspects: ▲sugar content ▲type of sugar ▲whether or not the product has received the 'Children’s Preferred Food Quality Certification.'

Children's beverages placed in convenience stores. Photo by Hyunjin Jung

According to the Ministry of Health and Welfare’s '2025 Dietary Reference Intakes for Koreans' released on June 21, the guideline for total daily sugar intake is 20% of total calories, with added sugars (such as sugar added during cooking or processing) limited to 10% or less. Calculating the recommended added sugar limits by age: 22.5g per day for children aged 1–2, 35g for ages 3–5, 42.5g for boys and 37.5g for girls aged 6–8. For total sugar intake, which includes both natural sugars and added sugars (such as from fruit and vegetable juices), the guideline is effectively double these amounts.

Based on these standards, we compared the sugar content of 12 children’s beverages currently on the market. The beverages are sold in volumes ranging from as little as 125ml to as much as 235ml—amounts typically consumed by a child in one sitting. Assuming a child drinks the entire package at once, we first compared the sugar content per serving.

Among the 12 products analyzed, the sugar content ranged from a minimum of 8g to a maximum of 13g per serving. The products with the highest sugar content (13g) were: ▲Lotte Chilsung Organic Grape Carrot ▲Sangha Farm Organic Apple·Blueberry·Kale ▲Yomiyomi Organic Juice Fruit Mix. Next, 6 products (half of those surveyed) contained 12g of sugar, while the product with the lowest sugar content was 'My Kids Strawberry Flavor' (8g).

As important as the absolute amount of sugar is the type of sugar present in the beverage. According to industry experts, the quickest way to compare the sugar types in drinks is by checking the food category. This allows you to see whether the product is high in natural sugars such as fructose, or in added sugars like regular sugar or syrup.

Children’s beverages are typically categorized as blended drinks, fruit/vegetable juice, or fruit/vegetable drinks. Beverages with fruit or vegetable concentrate or puree content above 95% are classified as fruit/vegetable juice. Those with a concentrate or puree content of 10–95% are considered fruit/vegetable drinks, while blended drinks have less than 10% juice content. Due to these ingredient differences, fruit/vegetable juice contains more natural sugars such as fructose, while blended drinks tend to have higher amounts of added sugars like syrup or sugar.

Among the five blended drinks analyzed, drinking just one bottle of either 'Paldo Cute Friend Pororo Strawberry Flavor' or 'Catch Teenieping Strawberry' would provide a boy aged 6–8 with 30% of his daily recommended intake of added sugars, and more than half of the limit for children aged 1–2. Considering that added sugars are also consumed through snacks, ice cream, and other products throughout the day, consuming more than two bottles per day could pose a significant health risk.

Children's beverages placed in convenience stores. Photo by Hyunjin Jung

Even when it comes to fruit/vegetable juices marketed as 'organic,' caution is still needed. Consuming a single 125ml pack of any of the three products with the highest sugar content (13g) would account for 30% of the daily total sugar intake for children aged 1–2, and 15% for those aged 6–8. While these juices contain mostly natural sugars from fruit, the amount of fructose is still high.

When recalculating sugar content per 100ml of product, a representative children’s blended drink, 'Paldo Cute Friend Pororo Milk Flavor,' contains 4.7g of sugar—less than half the amount found in some fruit/vegetable juices (10.4g per 100ml). This shows that the sugar concentration is much higher in fruit/vegetable juices.

Considering both sugar content and type, the Ministry of Food and Drug Safety has introduced the 'Children’s Preferred Food Quality Certification.' To qualify, products must meet several standards: ▲HACCP-certified safe food ▲no more than 250kcal, 4g saturated fat, or 17g sugar per serving ▲meets requirements for protein, vitamins, and minerals ▲no preservatives or artificial food coloring, among others.

Certification criteria vary slightly depending on the product type. Fruit/vegetable juices must use at least 95% main ingredients and may not have any added sugars to qualify. For fruit/vegetable drinks and blended drinks, only those with 17g or less sugar per serving can display the certification. In addition, except for fruit/vegetable juices and similar products with over 95% main ingredients, blended and fruit/vegetable drinks must also meet content criteria for nutrients such as protein, vitamins, and minerals.

Of the 12 beverages analyzed, 9 received this certification, excluding 'Yomiyomi Organic Juice Fruit Mix,' 'Hamsoa Organic Prune Apple Juice,' and 'Hamsoa Organic Carrot Grape Juice.' The two 'Paldo Cute Friend Pororo' products are fortified with dietary fiber and vitamin B1, the two 'Catch Teenieping' products are fortified with vitamin B1 and vitamin D, and 'My Kids Strawberry Flavor' is fortified with protein and vitamin B1.

Beverage companies actively use these certified ingredients for marketing purposes. In particular, blended drinks often prominently display the 'Children’s Preferred Food Quality Certification' on the front of the package. In addition, the 'zero' trend—switching to alternative sweeteners—has led to the introduction of zero-sugar products among blended drinks. There are four zero-sugar products in the 'Paldo Cute Friend Pororo' series, and including 'Pororo Barley Tea' and 'Nurungji Tea,' zero-sugar products account for about 25% of the brand’s sales.

In the end, if you must purchase sweetened children's beverages, products with lower sugar content, based on fruit juice and natural sugars, and certified with the Children’s Preferred Food Quality Certification, appear to be the most suitable choice.

"Consumption of sugar-sweetened beverages should be minimized." The Ministry of Health and Welfare added this phrase when it revised the Dietary Reference Intakes for Koreans last year for the first time in five years. In fact, most parents are aware that children's beverages tend to have high sugar content. However, since children often beg for these drinks as soon as they see them, most parents say it is hard to refuse. Instead of giving drinks in place of water, why not try limiting them to one pack or bottle per day? Wishing you and your children a healthy beverage consumption this hot summer.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.