Product labels are one way for advertisers to provide information to purchasers on product quality (Atkinson & Rosenthal, 2014). Label policies have been issued to promote information disclosure on food products in some developed countries. Recent years have also seen increasing attempts to promote healthy eating in emerging markets. In China, nutrition labels became mandatory under the nutrition labeling acts. The laws require nutrition information to be presented at the point of purchase as well as in establishments where food is prepared or consumed. Additionally, similar actions were taken by India (India Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, 2011), Mercosur members and in South Africa (Brazilian Ministry of Health, 2012; Institute of Food Technologists [IFT], 2011). While nutritional labeling has received a lot of attention both in academia and from the press, some key gaps remain in the nutrition labeling literature. First, a great deal of marketing research has focused on consumer responses (e.g., Balasubramanian & Cole, 2002; Hieke & Taylor, 2012; Ippolito & Mathios, 1995; Parker & Lehmann, 2014; Shah, Bettman, Ubel, Keller, & Edell, 2014) and firm responses (e.g., Moorman 1998; Moorman, Du, & Mela, 2005; Moorman, Ferraro, & Huber, 2012) to nutrition labeling laws. Although stock market investors express greater interest in information about nutrition issues that can be integrated into financial analyses (Global Access to Nutrition Index [ATNI] Investor Statement, 2013), the issue of how standardized information requirements affect investors’ responses in financial markets has been understudied. As used here, standardized product-information disclosure refers to a requirement to present facts about firms’ offerings in a common format using uniform metrics (Moorman et al. 2012). Understanding the extent to which investors consider product information-disclosure polices when they make investment decisions is important because a company’s financial health is not only the ultimate measure for the success or failure of any strategic initiative (Luo & Bhattacharya, 2009), but also one of the most important measures of public policy effectiveness (Joshi & Hanssens, 2010; Srinivasan & Hanssens, 2009; Schwert, 1981). Moreover, urgent concerns have spilled over from the product market to the financial market (Chen, Ganesan, & Liu, 2009) due to the enormous economic costs and damage to firms’ reputations in product-harm crises (e. g., melamine contamination in several Chinese brands of infant milk powder) (Ngo, 2014). Another gap in the literature is how nutritional-labeling requirements affect emerging markets. In contrast to the situation in long-developed countries, emerging markets are subject to different pressures for food marketers and thus a distinctive environment surrounds the regulation of food product labeling. In China, food safety and quality is considered an urgent concern, and the issue has forced regulators and companies to take action (Yan, 2008). Unlike mature stock markets, the majority of investors in China are individuals (Chen, Li, & Shi, 2010). The Chinese markets are under-regulated and deficient in gathering and disseminating information to private or public organizations, and it is difficult for listed firms with insufficient records to form reputations (Singh et al., 2005). As a result, information asymmetry is accentuated and imperfect signals released from firms highly impact investor decisions. Thus, examining the effectiveness of labeling requirements in developing economies is important as is comparing these results to those found in more developed countries. Despite the importance of the issue in emerging markets, empirical work for investigating investor response to the public policy of nutrition labeling (Ghani, & Childs, 1999) or firms’ nutrition claim strategies (Cao & Yan, 2016) has been restricted in developed markets (e.g., the U.S.). Little is understood the changes in corporate financial performance because of regulations requiring product information disclosure in emerging markets. As a result of the pressures for consumer protection and regulation, it is increasingly important for policy makers to be able to understand the financial consequences of such regulation because of information disclosure policies (Moorman et al., 2005). Thus, an additional contribution of this study is to help better inform the policy debate in emerging markets. To fill these research gaps, we investigated the influence of the influx of standardized product information on the stock market. Specifically, we conducted an event study to examine the effect on firms’ stock values from the issuance of the food nutrition label acts (FNLAs) in China, a fast-growing emerging market. The acts require food manufacturers to provide standardized nutritional information on pre-packaged food labels. This study contributes to the marketing literature on the financial impact of regulation in emerging markets. In China, on the day the FNLA was issued, they were associated with positive abnormal stock returns of related firms. This result is contrary to the study by Ghani and Childs (1999) that reported that the NLEA passage showed a negative impact on firms’ stock prices. Second, the financial value from the issuance of regulations was strengthened by three marketing leverages—advertising, donations, and R&D. Finally, although Moorman et al. argued that the NLEA increased the number of small-share firms exiting the U.S. market (Moorman et al., 2005), we found that in the short term, large firms benefited less than small firms from product information disclosure in China’s stock market. These findings provide empirical evidence that regulatory controls create changes in shareholder wealth and provide an assessment of the financial market’s perceptions regarding the role of mandatory product- information disclosure in future corporate growth. In addition, evidence of the effects of regulatory changes on wealth is of significant value to policymakers and market participants as they evaluate the benefits and costs of information disclosure in emerging markets.

Recent decades have seen a number of policies have been launched to promote information disclosure on food products marketed in developed countries. There has also been increasing efforts to promote healthy eating in developing economies (Cowburn & Stockley 2005). A good example appears in China, where, in an effort to improve health education, nutrition labels became mandatory under the Nutrition Labeling Act (NLA) since 2013. Additionally, food labeling regulations were issued by India, Mercosur members and South Africa. While nutritional labeling has received a lot of attention both in academia and from the press, there are some key gaps in the nutrition labeling literature. One issue of how standardized information requirements affect firm marketing responses (e.g., advertising levels. R&D investment, and corporate social responsibility programs) and performance has been understudied. Another clear gap in the literature is how nutritional labeling requirements affect developing economies.

한국과 중국 간에 FTA가 발효됨에 따라 양국 간의 교역량이 증대될 것임은 자명한 사실 이다. 특히 국민의 건강 및 안전과 밀접한 관련이 있는 농산물 등 식품안전분야의 교역은 양 국 간에 엄격한 검사·검역 체계를 수립하고 양국의 정책 및 제도의 조화를 도모함으로써 신 뢰를 정착시키고 FTA의 긍정적인 효과를 향유하는 것이 무엇보다 중요하다. 본 연구의 목적은 한국과 중국의 식품안전규제제도에서 양국 간의 식품안전정책의 차이점 과 유사점을 분석하여 상호 윈윈(win-win)할 수 있는 식품안전정책을 도출하고 제도의 조화 를 모색하고자 한다. 이를 위하여 제2장에서는 WTO 및 FTA체제하에서 식품안전과 관련된 국제적인 규범을 고찰하고, 제3장에서는 한국과 중국의 식품안전정책을 상호 비교 분석한다. 제4장에서는 양국이 경험한 식품안전과 관련한 사례를 분석하여 향후 시사점을 도출하고자 한다. 마지막으로 결론에서는 FTA발효에 따른 양국 간의 식품안전 및 정책의 조화가능성을 제시하고자 한다.

Food allergy refers to an immunologically mediated adverse reaction to food, mainly to proteinaceous constituents. Health implications vary between those individuals who experience mild physical discomforts to those with fast-acting, life-threatening anaphylactic reactions. The prevalence of food allergy is higher in children than in adults, estimated around 4-8% and 1-2% respectively in developed countries. Food allergy has no effective cure at the present time and total avoidance of causative foods is the most reliable prophylactic method currently recommended by the medical community. To help food allergic patients to make informed choices of their foods, mandatory labeling of selected food allergens has been introduced in several countries. All food allergen labelling provisions specify a set of allergens common to the regulated countries. Policy divergence, however, exists between countries by inclusion of additional allergens unique to specific countries and enforcement of specific labelling requirements. Such variations in food allergen labelling regulations make it difficult to manage allergen labeling in imported pre-packaged food products. This paper addresses two current issues in food allergen regulation: 1) an urgent need to determine true prevalence of food allergy in the Asia-Pacific region. This will enable refinement to the food allergen regulation to be more country-specific rather than simply adopting CODEX recommendations. 2) There is an urgent need for harmonization of food allergen regulation in order to prevent food allergen regulation becoming a trade barrier.

본 연구는 건강기능식품에 대한 소비자 연구를 통하여 신뢰도를 향상시키기 위한 표시 제도를 제안하기 위해 수행되었다. 소비자가 쉽게 건강기능식품을 확인할 수 있도록 공모를 통하여 인증마크를 개발하고 소비자 조사를 실시하였다. 조사대상자는 대도시, 중소도시 등 2000명으로 하여 1:1 면접조사를 실시하였다. 조사결과 건강기능식품 인증마크의 필요도가 매우 높았고, 텍스트 형태보다 텍스트/그래픽이 혼합된 형태의 영양·기능정보의 신뢰도가 높았다. 또한 인체에 작용하는 기전을 포함한 영양·기능정보가 소비자의 신뢰도를 높이는 데 도움이 되는 것으로 조사되었다. 따라서 건강기능식품 인증마크는 소비자로 하여금 제품을 선택하는데 도움을 줄 수 있을 것으로 사료되며, 또한 건강기능식품의 신뢰도를 높일 수 있는 표시제도의 개선에 기여할 것으로 사료된다.