The starch scandal that sparked the latest food scare in the nation has opened a Pandora’s box of toxic evils. Industrial colorings have since been found in bean curd, while thousands of zongzi (粽子, glutinous rice dumplings) were pulled off shelves last week after two manufacturers allegedly altered expiration dates.
It is the second major food scare in two years.
When plasticizer — a chemical additive to make food more pliable — was found in 2011 in food and beverages, public awareness of food safety was raised and the government promised to enhance food safety standards with an amendment to the Act Governing Food Sanitation (食品藥物管理法).
Yet, both the public and the government seem to be forgetful. People eat and drink without being cautious about food safety, and the proposed amendment remained stuck in the legislature until the last day of the legislative session on May 31, when lawmakers quickly passed it.
Apart from public health risks, the toxic starch scandal has damaged the nation’s culinary reputation and damaged businesses at night markets. The industrial starch was found in mostly traditional Taiwanese food and drink, such as tapioca pearls in bubble tea, gluttonous dumplings, Hakka rice noodles, oyster omelets and sweet taro balls.
These street foods are popular with locals and foreign tourists alike. Bubble tea, which is made with chewy tapioca balls and milk tea, even put Taiwan on the world culinary map and created a sensation not only in Japan and South Korea, but even in the West. Bubble tea shops can now be found in Berlin, London and Paris.
Yet since last month, Singapore and Malaysia have imposed bans on tapioca balls and several other food items imported from Taiwan. Travel agencies have also expressed concerns over the safety of street food, fearing that it could affect tourists visiting night markets, one of the nation’s most popular tourist attractions.
Health authorities and the public cannot be forgetful again. The toxic starch scandal has damaged the nation’s international credibility in food safety.
The government must take heed and implement stricter regulations governing food safety. As the recently passed amendment to the act states, domestic food manufacturers should establish a tracking system tracing the flow of the production and trade, including supply sources and buyers, and there needs to be mandatory registration of certain food businesses beyond a certain scale.
The amendment also seeks to deter food manufacturers from using illegal additives by raising the penalties to a maximum of NT$15 million (US$499,000). However, fines alone cannot prevent the use of cheap industrial chemicals in food items. Proactive food inspections must be carried out to ensure consumer safety.
For the public, the industrial starch incident is a sharp reminder that consumers also have a role to play in food safety. They should say no to problematic food products and, in this way, force manufacturers that ignore safety standards out of business.
Manufacturers and food vendors must also be more cautious about the ingredients they purchase from suppliers.
Ensuring food safety is everyone’s business, and it will require a collective effort by the public and private sectors to rebuild the nation’s reputation.
Why is Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) not a “happy camper” these days regarding Taiwan? Taiwanese have not become more “CCP friendly” in response to the Chinese Communist Party’s (CCP) use of spies and graft by the United Front Work Department, intimidation conducted by the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) and the Armed Police/Coast Guard, and endless subversive political warfare measures, including cyber-attacks, economic coercion, and diplomatic isolation. The percentage of Taiwanese that prefer the status quo or prefer moving towards independence continues to rise — 76 percent as of December last year. According to National Chengchi University (NCCU) polling, the Taiwanese
It would be absurd to claim to see a silver lining behind every US President Donald Trump cloud. Those clouds are too many, too dark and too dangerous. All the same, viewed from a domestic political perspective, there is a clear emerging UK upside to Trump’s efforts at crashing the post-Cold War order. It might even get a boost from Thursday’s Washington visit by British Prime Minister Keir Starmer. In July last year, when Starmer became prime minister, the Labour Party was rigidly on the defensive about Europe. Brexit was seen as an electorally unstable issue for a party whose priority
US President Donald Trump is systematically dismantling the network of multilateral institutions, organizations and agreements that have helped prevent a third world war for more than 70 years. Yet many governments are twisting themselves into knots trying to downplay his actions, insisting that things are not as they seem and that even if they are, confronting the menace in the White House simply is not an option. Disagreement must be carefully disguised to avoid provoking his wrath. For the British political establishment, the convenient excuse is the need to preserve the UK’s “special relationship” with the US. Following their White House
US President Donald Trump’s return to the White House has brought renewed scrutiny to the Taiwan-US semiconductor relationship with his claim that Taiwan “stole” the US chip business and threats of 100 percent tariffs on foreign-made processors. For Taiwanese and industry leaders, understanding those developments in their full context is crucial while maintaining a clear vision of Taiwan’s role in the global technology ecosystem. The assertion that Taiwan “stole” the US’ semiconductor industry fundamentally misunderstands the evolution of global technology manufacturing. Over the past four decades, Taiwan’s semiconductor industry, led by Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC), has grown through legitimate means
RSS