Premier Jiang Yi-huah reiterated the importance of improving food safety at today's Cabinet meeting after hearing the Department of Health's (DOH) report on new measures and the handling of recent food safety incidents following the amendment of the Act Governing Food Sanitation.
"Since the amendment was promulgated, several new mechanisms and measures have been put in place to offer greater protection to citizens' health," said the premier. He told the Cabinet it must place great importance on food safety and mobilize after every major incident, then instructed the DOH and all relevant agencies to pick up the pace to implement the measures as planned and step up health education and advocacy.
Vice Premier Mao Chi-kuo has convened several cross-agency task force meetings in recent days and invited scholars and experts to symposiums to exchange opinions on the issue, indicated Jiang. He requested relevant agencies to follow the Vice Premier's instructions and the conclusions reached at these meetings and symposiums, setting up new mechanisms in accordance with the amended act to meet the government's responsibility of maintaining food safety to safeguard citizens' health.
According to the DOH's report, following further investigation and handling of the recent incident by relevant agencies, the number of unscrupulous manufacturers found to have supplied maleic anhydride-modified starch ingredients to starch producers remains at nine; the percentage of related food products found to be unacceptable has declined from 53.8 percent to 4 percent; and the proportion of sellers posting food safety certificates has reached 100 percent. Phone calls from consumers to inquire about food safety have also decreased, indicating that the production chain has been cleaned up and greatly improved. Premier Jiang instructed the DOH to explain these developments to the public.
Regarding the public's complaint that the government was slow in handling these issues, the premier said that although the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has offered detailed explanations and response plans, the DOH and FDA should still humbly perform self-examinations of their standard operating procedures and seek improvement.
Premier Jiang also requested the Ministry of Justice to urge its various prosecutors' offices to seek harsher penalties on violators, making good use of the new authority granted by the amended Act Governing Food Sanitation to effectively prevent similar irregularities from occurring in the future.
While some of the recent food safety incidents are old cases reported by the media after investigation was already underway, others pose a greater risk to public health, remarked the premier. "What is worth noting is that these incidents, just like the plasticizer case in 2011, involve the illegal use of industrial chemical raw materials in food products," he said. "Therefore we should step up management of the supply end, with the DOH's food traceability system and the Council of Labor Affairs' chemical registration system linking up with each other to facilitate food management and food flow tracing so as to provide citizens with a safe, healthy food environment."