Control Yuan members yesterday called on government health officials in charge of food safety to pay attention to potentially harmful food additives following a report that suggested they are widely used.
The report, which included tests on 50 food products, was written by Control Yuan members Cheng Jen-hung (程仁宏), Yang Mei-ling (楊美鈴), Chao Chang-ping (趙昌平) and Hung Chao-nan (洪昭男). It suggested that local governments should exercise sufficient supervision over food safety.
Cheng told a press conference yesterday that 44 percent of selected dried shrimp, 77 percent of selected dried radishes and 40 percent of selected cold noodles on the market did not meet standards.
PHOTO: CHU PEI-HSIUNG, TAIPEI TIMES
The Taichung County Government should tighten its supervision as almost all the dried shrimp examined by the Control Yuan were below hygiene standards, the report said.
Dried shrimp were found to contain excessive sulfur dioxide, which can cause breathlessness, vomiting and diarrhea, the report said, adding that dried radishes, which are often used in rice dumpings, were found to contain too much benzoic acid and sorbic acid — both food preservatives.
In a test of cold noodles to determine whether they contained pollutants, the researchers found high levels of colon bacillus in three out of eight samples in Taipei City and one out of seven in Taipei County.
Cheng said the Control Yuan would continue to monitor the problem over the next six months by inspecting food manufacturing factories around the country and pushing local health officials to strengthen food safety standards.
An undersea cable to Penghu County has been severed, the Ministry of Digital Affairs said today, with a Chinese-funded ship suspected of being responsible. It comes just a month after a Chinese ship was suspected of severing an undersea cable north of Keelung Harbor. The National Communications and Cyber Security Center received a report at 3:03am today from Chunghwa Telecom that the No. 3 cable from Taiwan to Penghu was severed 14.7km off the coast of Tainan, the Ministry of Digital Affairs said. The Coast Guard Administration (CGA) upon receiving a report from Chunghwa Telecom began to monitor the Togolese-flagged Hong Tai (宏泰)
EVA Air is prohibiting the use of portable chargers on board all flights starting from Saturday, while China Airlines is advising passengers not to use them, following the lead of South Korean airlines. Current regulations prohibit portable chargers and lithium batteries from check-in luggage and require them to be properly packed in carry-on baggage, EVA Air said. To improve onboard safety, portable chargers and spare lithium batteries would be prohibited from use on all fights starting on Saturday, it said. Passengers are advised to fully charge electronic devices before boarding and use the AC and USB charging outlets at their seat, it said. South
WAR SIMULATION: The developers of the board game ‘2045’ consulted experts and analysts, and made maps based on real-life Chinese People’s Liberation Army exercises To stop invading Chinese forces seizing Taiwan, board gamer Ruth Zhong chooses the nuclear option: Dropping an atomic bomb on Taipei to secure the nation’s freedom and her victory. The Taiwanese board game 2045 is a zero-sum contest of military strategy and individual self-interest that puts players on the front lines of a simulated Chinese attack. Their battlefield game tactics would determine the theoretical future of Taiwan, which in the real world faces the constant threat of a Chinese invasion. “The most interesting part of this game is that you have to make continuous decisions based on the evolving situation,
Actor Lee Wei (李威) was released on bail on Monday after being named as a suspect in the death of a woman whose body was found in the meeting place of a Buddhist group in Taipei’s Daan District (大安) last year, prosecutors said. Lee, 44, was released on NT$300,000 (US$9,148) bail, while his wife, surnamed Chien (簡), was released on NT$150,000 bail after both were summoned to give statements regarding the woman’s death. The home of Lee, who has retreated from the entertainment business in the past few years, was also searched by prosecutors and police earlier on Monday. Lee was questioned three
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