The Executive Yuan's cross-ministerial task force on food safety, led by Vice Premier Mao Chi-kuo, convened today to reexamine and improve relevant regulatory and management systems following the recent revelation of violations by Chang Chi Foodstuff Factory Co.
Chang Chi's olive oil was found to have been illicitly adulterated with other oils and additives such as copper chlorophyll. The vice premier demanded that the personnel responsible be punished severely. The Ministry of Justice has already frozen and investigated the assets of the company's chairperson and has expressed its intent to track down illicit gains by the company as strictly as the law provides.
Major strategies to improve preventive measures were also discussed, including comprehensive tracing of food products from the source onward, implementing third-party monitoring and conducting post-marketing surveillance and management.
Through the collaboration of various ministries, the government has in recent years swiftly traced post-marketing food safety violations to their sources, taken hold of their distribution channels, removed the tainted products from shelves and fully investigated unscrupulous operators.
Since the latest amendment of the Act Governing Food Sanitation became effective on June 21, the government has had the means to impose severe penalties on industries which willfully violate the law. It will also continue to implement the 10-major-action plan on food safety, improve cross-ministerial collaboration and follow the example of the Executive Yuan's drug crackdown by establishing a sub-task force to scrutinize and suppress illegal operators, enhance cross-ministerial coordination and strengthen inspections and punishment.
Third-party monitoring will be augmented through expanded participation in inspections by volunteer groups; over 130 food- and nutrition-related departments of colleges and universities, for instance, will help establish a food safety alliance in January 2014 to assist the government in checking product labeling as well as manufacturing sites to help safeguard public health.
The Ministry of Health and Welfare is currently revising food sanitation and safety regulations to bolster the self-discipline and source management of food product providers. It is demanding that these businesses establish records of their quality control checks and periodically examine the ingredients they use or send these ingredients to third-party laboratories for testing and inspection.