Taiwan’s mushrooms are drier, harder and smell better compared with those imported from China, the Council of Agriculture (COA) said yesterday in an attempt to defuse tensions over a case of mistaken mushrooms.
The council said Taiwanese mushrooms were easy to recognize because they bear unique characteristics, but added that customers should still insist on buying products stamped with the Certified Agricultural Standards (CAS) label.
The comments were in response to an article in the Liberty Times (the Taipei Times’ sister newspaper) yesterday, which reported that members of the Taiwan Mushroom Research and Development Association found mushrooms in supermarkets labeled as from Tainan, but which contained Chinese mushrooms.
Association head Chen Tsung-ming (陳宗明) was quoted as saying the packets of Alpine Mushrooms contained bigger Taiwanese mushrooms at the top to mask the cheaper, smaller Chinese mushrooms underneath. The article said the mushrooms were labeled as from Kuantian Township in Tainan County, which does not produce mushrooms.
The supplier of the packets, Chi Sheng Co, could not be reached for comment yesterday.
Chen was also quoted as saying that illegally imported Chinese mushrooms were becoming an increasing problem, with recent estimates suggesting that up to a quarter of all mushrooms sold in Taiwan are from China.
Officials at the COA yesterday said the main reason more retailers were carrying Chinese mushrooms was their lower price. However, the council said it was a case of “buyer beware” because Chinese mushrooms had documented problems, including dirt and a repugnant odor because of insufficient dryness.
Agriculture and Food Agency Director-General Chen Wen-duh (陳文德) yesterday advised customers to look for the agency’s CAS label or “Taiwan Mushroom” stamp, which signified that the mushrooms had already undergone inspections.
He said there were clear distinctions between mushrooms from the two countries, adding that customers should look for differences, including smell and hardness. Taiwanese mushrooms tend to smell fresher than Chinese mushrooms, which have likely been stored for longer periods of time, he said.
Upon questioning, COA officials said they would work with the coast guard and local police departments to step up seizures of illegally imported mushrooms.
Meanwhile, vegetable prices edged up after government agencies stepped in yesterday to curb a tumble that saw prices fall on Thursday to their lowest point this year.
The COA announced yesterday a host of initiatives designed to cut down on the amount of produce entering the marketplace. It said it would provide farmers with subsidies of up to NT$70,000 per hectare to turn certain types of vegetables into fertilizers.
Over the long run, the council said it aims to provide more technical assistance to farmers to create more expensive agricultural products and increase exports.
Prices were up yesterday on the Taipei Wholesale Market, an increase of 23 percent to an average of NT$15.1 per kilogram of vegetables over a low of NT$12.3 per kilogram on Thursday. The amount of produce traded during the same period was down by between 1,605 tonnes and 1,645 tonnes.
A representative from the Taipei Agricultural Products Marketing Co, which runs the Taipei Wholesale Market, yesterday said the primary reason prices have been so low was increased production after Typhoon Morakot last August.
The representative, who did not want to be named, said most farms ramped up production following price hikes that reached NT$34.5 per kilogram a week after the typhoon amid worries about unstable demand.
The high volume of produce was also coupled with good weather throughout the season, the representative said.
COA Deputy Minister Huang Yu-tsai (黃有才) said the council plans to donate up to 30,000kg of vegetables to charitable organizations. The council is also expected to work together with retailers to start a series of incentives to increase vegetable sales prior to the holiday period.
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