The Ministry of Food and Drug Safety has launched an online simulator to help manufacturers create standardized labels for packaged products.

Dubbed a “labelbot,” the simulator was developed to help packaged food manufacturers meet the requirements more easily, the ministry said Tuesday.

According to the Food Ministry, about 12,000 inquiries about what must be included on packaged food labels were submitted in 2020 alone.

The labelbot provides label templates for 130 types of products. Once a user types in the information for each category, the simulator produces a virtual image of the label that can be printed or downloaded.

Users can also choose the type of packaging, such as box, bag or bottle, the ministry explained.

On a bag of chips, for example, the front side must display the name of the product and its calorie content while the back side needs to provide more detailed information such as the ingredient list, nutritional breakdown and expiration date.

The ministry said it plans to offer the labelbot service for the first half of this year while continuing to enhance its usability and convenience for manufacturers.

The labelbot is available on the ministry’s official website (http://www.foodsafetykorea.go.kr).

By Kan Hyeong-woo (hwkan@heraldcorp.com)