“Helping patients with rare diseases manage their diets” ... CJ CheilJedang’s Hetbahn supplies low-protein rice, saving up to 14.1 million won

[Financial News] CJ CheilJedang is contributing to society by producing Hetbahn low-protein rice for adult patients with rare diseases through a special-diet purchasing support system.
According to industry sources on the 12th, CJ CheilJedang is supplying Hetbahn low-protein rice to adult patients with rare diseases through a special-diet purchasing support system established with the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency and the Korea Federation of Organizations for Rare and Intractable Diseases, helping save up to 14.1 million won per person annually.
Since last July, CJ CheilJedang has operated a public-private support system to help patients with rare diseases who need special diets for life continue to buy low-protein rice easily after reaching adulthood. Under the program, adult patients aged 19 and older, who had relied on costly overseas direct purchases or online purchases at a premium, now receive regular deliveries of low-protein rice at a stable price of 1,700 won per unit. The Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency estimated that the support could save each patient between 8.48 million and 14.1 million won a year.
The father of a patient living in Asan, South Chungcheong Province, expressed his gratitude, saying, “If my child eats regular food, they could also develop conditions such as Parkinson’s disease. Low-protein rice is the only rice my child, who cannot eat regular rice, can eat without worry.”
Hetbahn low-protein rice is an essential special diet directly linked to the survival of patients with congenital metabolic disorders, including phenylketonuria (PKU), who lack protein-degrading enzymes. Its protein content must be reduced to one-tenth that of regular rice through a specialized process that takes 24 hours to break down protein, and its manufacturing cost is at least double.
Despite low production efficiency, CJ CheilJedang has continued making the product for 18 years since its initial launch in 2009. Cumulative production has reached about 3 million units.
A CJ CheilJedang spokesperson said, “We will continue to listen to social needs and voices that cannot be judged on economic grounds alone, and expand our partnerships so that we can reliably supply special diets to Koreans living overseas and patients with rare diseases around the world.”



[email protected] Park Kyung-ho Reporter