Advisory Case on the Compliance Review of an Alternative-Beverage Product Name and Advertising under the Food Labeling and Advertising Act

1. The Client's Situation

The client launched a new product that reproduced the taste of coffee by blending grain and plant-based ingredients without using any coffee beans at all, and raised concerns about whether the product name could be kept in a form that included the word "coffee" as before. Having received a request from the local government to revise its labeling, the client needed a legal review of whether the product name could mislead consumers, and how the detail page and advertising copy should be supplemented to lower the risk of violating the Act on Labeling and Advertising of Foods. In particular, it was necessary to accurately understand the method of using coffee flavoring, the product type (liquid tea), and the requirements for applying synthetic flavorings.

Your Legal Team reviewed the "Standards for Labeling of Foods, etc." and the prohibition on deceiving consumers under Article 8 of the Act on Labeling and Advertising of Foods, and explained that using the name "coffee" for a product that contains no coffee beans at all carries a high likelihood of misleading consumers and thus poses a regulatory risk. However, considering that the product was not composed merely of flavoring but had a structure combining various plant-based ingredients, we proposed a parallel notation that consumers could clearly understand, such as "liquid tea with added coffee flavoring" or "grain-based alternative beverage." We also provided specific examples of notice wording to fulfill the duty to prevent misunderstanding, such as inserting notices like "Contains no coffee beans," "Coffee flavoring added," and "Liquid tea" at the top of the product detail page, near the product name, and on the principal display panel. We further pointed out that court precedents exist in which the use of similar product names led to penalty surcharges and criminal punishment, supporting the need to adjust the name and improve the advertising copy.

The client was able to clearly grasp the legal risks across the product name and advertising copy as a whole, and to adjust its brand strategy toward a safe alternative name and notice method that could satisfy the regulator's requirements. In addition, by organizing the information-notice system required on the online detail page and product packaging, the client reduced the likelihood of misleading consumers and secured a foundation for preventing regulatory risks such as administrative dispositions and criminal punishment. Through this, the client was able to launch the new product stably in the market while establishing legal safeguards to maintain long-term brand credibility.