Presiding over a price stabilization task force meeting today, Vice Premier Mao Chi-kuo pledged to keep commodity supplies stable for the Dragon Boat Festival, which marks one of the three largest holidays on Taiwan's calendar and falls on June 12 this year.
The Council of Agriculture (COA) will monitor markets and adjust supplies as needed, while other ministries and departments will keep an eye on price fluctuations and investigate unreasonable hikes. To ensure food safety, Mao asked the Department of Health (DOH) to continue working with local health authorities to inspect holiday food products and release results at the soonest so that consumers can make informed purchases.
The COA said it has launched measures to maintain sufficient supplies of vegetables and ingredients, particularly those needed for zongzi, glutinous rice dumplings with various fillings traditionally eaten around the Dragon Boat Festival. The COA has also helped wholesale produce markets to build mechanisms that adjust supply in response to demand.
Thanks to ample inventories this year, the price of glutinous rice is 1 to 2 percent lower than that from the same time last year, according to the COA. Agricultural ingredients have also seen more price decreases than increases. Mushroom, pork and duck egg costs, for instance, have dropped 6.5, 6.0 and 8.3 percent, respectively.
To ensure sufficient supplies of all zongzi ingredients, the COA took inventory around the nation three weeks in advance and tallied 7,600 metric tons of glutinous rice at government warehouses and 32,000 metric tons at private warehouses, more than estimated 10,000 metric tons needed. Generous stocks for fillings were also found—1,620 metric tons of mushroom, 2,100 metric tons of peanuts and 36 million duck eggs. Starting today, these supplies will be increased by 20 percent daily prior to the Dragon Boat Festival.
As for prices, the Executive Yuan's Department of Consumer Protection mobilizes local consumer protection officials nationwide to check various outlets each year. From May 27 to June 3, officials checked 123 zongzi prices at 57 well-known stores in 22 counties and cities. They also surveyed 24 products in seven supermarkets and hypermarkets as well as 35 pre-order items from three convenience store chains and found that 90 percent of zongzi prices have not increased this year. The few retailers that did raise prices—by 2.9 to 20 percent—cited higher costs of raw materials, fuel and electricity or upgrades to packaging or content. A number of retailers also lowered prices, by 0.3 to 29.6 percent. Consumers are advised to compare prices of at least three retailers.
In food safety, the DOH's Food and Drug Administration guides local health departments each year to inspect sanitation and food products at small eateries, zongzi shops, supermarkets, traditional markets, street markets and food processing facilities. As of June 4, the DOH had inspected 149 establishments and found two in violation of health codes. The violators were ordered to make corrections by a specific date or else face NT$60,000 to NT$6 million in fines. The DOH also sampled 352 zongzi ingredients for preservatives, formaldehyde, sulfur dioxide, borax and aflatoxin, and found 30 to be in violation. The vendors have been directed to pull the problem products from shelves while upstream suppliers will be fined NT$30,000 to NT$150,000 per the Act Governing Food Sanitation.