Ensuring the safety of the food people consume requires a strong food safety regulation system by the government, self-management by businesses, and participation by all citizens, Premier Mao Chi-kuo said today at the year's first meeting of the Executive Yuan's Board of Food Safety.
"Having been rocked by a string of food safety scares, Taiwan has made comprehensive changes to its food safety laws and policies. The key now is in the implementation."
Mao added that the Board of Food Safety is an extremely important platform because the endeavor requires close cooperation among government agencies and active participation from private groups.
Following enactment of the amended Act Governing Food Safety and Sanitation on December 10, 2014, the Executive Yuan established the board directly under the premier to meet once every quarter. In addition to officials from food safety-related agencies, the board includes 14 experts, scholars, and representatives from private groups and organizations. Women account for more than a third of the board members.
While the Ministry of Health and Welfare (MOHW) has been pushing food companies to register and track their products and ingredients, other agencies have been making food safety information available to the public. The Executive Yuan's Office of Food Safety and the National Development Council are also planning to use crowdsourcing to encourage online groups to develop apps and services for mapping Taiwan's food safety.
After hearing reports on food safety management efforts in 2014 and major policies implemented following the amended food safety and sanitation act, the premier said that the more recent food safety violations were all discovered and announced by health officials—an indication that food tracing mechanism is taking effect.
In the future, the MOHW should make clear to businesses the harsher penalties under the amended act and demonstrate the government's resolve in punishing violators. Food companies should not think they can skirt the law but should rather strengthen their own self-management procedures, Mao added.
Regarding the food company and ingredients registry system, the MOHW reported that 194,000 companies (or 65 percent) had registered as of March 24, and that all 300,000 companies are expected to be in the system by the end of the year.
As for the food safety protection fund, the MOHW said the fund's income for 2015 amounted to NT$49 million (US$1.56 million). Of this total, NT$38 million (US$1.21 million) came from fines paid by Tatung Changchi Foodstuff Factory, NT$9 million (US$290,000) from fines collected by local governments, and NT$2 million (US$64,500) from the central government's budget.
Regarding food products illegally imported from Japanese areas contaminated by radiation from the Fukushima nuclear disaster in 2011, the MOHW indicated that 12 importers had been inspected and 3,000 products checked as of today. Some 294 products have been seized and 73.7 tonnes were sealed on-site on suspicion of originating from the five Japanese prefectures with import bans. The MOHW immediately ordered these importers to notify downstream businesses that the problematic food items be removed from shelves.
According to the MOHW, of the 365 samples sent to the Atomic Energy Council (AEC), tests have been conducted on 193 items so far and no traces of radioactive contamination have been found. Premier Mao requested the ministry to disclose the method for testing, as suggested by the Board of Food Safety.
As for spring roll wrappers adulterated with the industrial bleaching agent Rongalite, health authorities have demanded that businesses recall the tainted products immediately. Moreover, the MOHW has placed Rongalite on the list of illegal additives to be checked for by local health bureaus in their annual inspections.
Regarding seaweed products soaked in industrial-grade ammonium aluminum sulfate and ammonium bicarbonate solutions, the MOHW has requested local health authorities to form a task force for inspecting vendors involving in seaweed processing. Efforts between central and local health agencies to monitor illegal food additives will continue unabated.
After hearing the MOHW's report on standard operating procedures (SOPs) for the central-level command center on food safety, Premier Mao asked the ministry to work out SOPs for command centers at other levels by consulting relevant agencies and using the induction approach.
During the meeting, board members mentioned that over 300 food factories in Taiwan have possible issues with the newly amended Article 10 of the Act Governing Food Safety and Sanitation. The article stipulates that food or food additive factories should be independently established and must not engage in non-food manufacturing, processing or preparation at the same address and the same factory.
Premier Mao gave instructions that the Ministry of Economic Affairs and the MOHW work together to study the problems encountered by those food factories established prior to the amendment of Article 10. The ministries should also classify the problems, provide guidance accordingly, and enact standards or rules to help these enterprises separate food processing from non-food operations.