Once sold out at 8,000 won, Dubai Chewy Cookie now sits unsold even at 70% off — experts warn it triggers binge eating

"The more you eat, the more it triggers binge eating."

The Dubai Chewy Cookie once sparked such a craze that customers lined up at opening time and still could not get their hands on one, even at 8,000 won apiece. Now, small-business owners say they cannot move the product even after slashing the price to 2,000 won.

Experts are warning that trendy desserts like the Dubai Chewy Cookie — whose popularity faded as quickly as it arrived — stimulate the brain's reward center, triggering false hunger and binge eating, and that people need to limit how often they consume them.

Park Yong-woo, a professor of family medicine at Kangbuk Samsung Hospital, conducted his own analysis of the health risks posed by such desserts.

Trendy treats like the Dubai Chewy Cookie and butter tteok are not designed to satisfy physical hunger or provide essential nutrients, Park said — they exist purely to deliver pleasure.

The intense combination of sugar, fat and salt powerfully stimulates the brain, artificially inducing appetite. Eating these desserts alone as a meal replacement or on an empty stomach puts excessive strain on the body's blood sugar regulation system. Blood sugar spikes sharply and then crashes due to excess insulin secretion — a condition known as reactive hypoglycemia.

The result is a vicious cycle in which a person feels intense hunger again shortly after eating and craves something sweet. This false hunger and binge eating can ultimately lead to obesity.

Asked which is worse for one's health — the Dubai Chewy Cookie or butter tteok — Park said there was little difference between the two. "It's six of one, half a dozen of the other," he said. "Whether you fall from the 50th floor or the 40th floor of a building, the outcome isn't much different."

Tanghuru, the candied-fruit snack that once swept through teenagers as a popular treat, has also drawn a wave of warnings from health experts. They have expressed concern that rates of severe obesity and obesity among children and adolescents are rising rapidly in South Korea, and that a culture of enjoying and sharing sugar-laden desserts is driving the trend.

Experts have also cited the social habit of teenagers eating tanghuru as an after-meal snack as an external factor contributing to childhood obesity.

Developing obesity-inducing habits at a young age can lead to chronic disease complications such as diabetes later in life, making early correction critical — yet experts say that within such deeply ingrained social habits among young people, changing the behavior is far from easy.

park@heraldcorp.com