Different Convenience Store Lunchboxes... GS25 Offers Variety of Side Dishes, CU Provides More Meat

A convenience store in Seoul displays lunch boxes and other food items. [Image source=Yonhap News]

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A survey revealed that the side dishes and quantities of lunchboxes sold at convenience stores vary significantly by product. Some products also showed discrepancies between the nutritional content labels and the actual contents, indicating a need for improvement.

According to the "Convenience Store Lunchbox Price and Quality Comparison Information" released by the Korea Consumer Agency on the 28th, a survey was conducted on 10 convenience store lunchboxes popular among consumers. The number of side dishes varied up to 2.2 times, and the weight differed by up to 1.7 times between products. Among the lunchboxes surveyed, GS25’s "11 Gajichan Manheun Dosirak" had the most variety and quantity, with 11 side dishes and a weight of 308g.

The protein content, including meat and eggs inside the convenience store lunchboxes, ranged from 20.0 to 38.8g per product, all providing the necessary amount for one meal. However, the amount of meat varied greatly, from 72 to 171g, showing a maximum difference of about 2.4 times. Among these, CU’s "Baek Jong-won Gogi 2 Bae Jeongsik" had only 6 side dishes but contained the largest amount of meat at 171g, making the meat-to-rice ratio as high as 90%.

In terms of nutritional content, sugar levels were not high, but sodium was relatively high based on the intake standard for three meals a day. Sodium intake from side dishes ranged from 1101 to 1721mg, accounting for 55 to 86% of the daily nutritional standard. The Korea Consumer Agency advised, "Eight out of the 10 products had more side dish weight than rice," and recommended, "To reduce sodium intake, consumers should check the nutritional information when purchasing products."

There were also products where the nutritional content labels differed from the actual amounts. The "7 Chan Dosirak" sold at Seven Eleven was labeled as containing 1.2g of sugar, but tests showed 9.2g, which is 767% higher. Carbohydrates were labeled as 114g but analyzed at 89.2g. Seven Eleven has since completed the label correction.

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