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.
Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Chairman Eric Chu (朱立倫), spokeswoman Yang Chih-yu (楊智伃) and Legislator Hsieh Lung-chieh (謝龍介) would be summoned by police for questioning for leading an illegal assembly on Thursday evening last week, Minister of the Interior Liu Shyh-fang (劉世芳) said today. The three KMT officials led an assembly outside the Taipei City Prosecutors’ Office, a restricted area where public assembly is not allowed, protesting the questioning of several KMT staff and searches of KMT headquarters and offices in a recall petition forgery case. Chu, Yang and Hsieh are all suspected of contravening the Assembly and Parade Act (集會遊行法) by holding
PRAISE: Japanese visitor Takashi Kubota said the Taiwanese temple architecture images showcased in the AI Art Gallery were the most impressive displays he saw Taiwan does not have an official pavilion at the World Expo in Osaka, Japan, because of its diplomatic predicament, but the government-backed Tech World pavilion is drawing interest with its unique recreations of works by Taiwanese artists. The pavilion features an artificial intelligence (AI)-based art gallery showcasing works of famous Taiwanese artists from the Japanese colonial period using innovative technologies. Among its main simulated displays are Eastern gouache paintings by Chen Chin (陳進), Lin Yu-shan (林玉山) and Kuo Hsueh-hu (郭雪湖), who were the three young Taiwanese painters selected for the East Asian Painting exhibition in 1927. Gouache is a water-based
Taiwan would welcome the return of Honduras as a diplomatic ally if its next president decides to make such a move, Minister of Foreign Affairs Lin Chia-lung (林佳龍) said yesterday. “Of course, we would welcome Honduras if they want to restore diplomatic ties with Taiwan after their elections,” Lin said at a meeting of the legislature’s Foreign Affairs and National Defense Committee, when asked to comment on statements made by two of the three Honduran presidential candidates during the presidential campaign in the Central American country. Taiwan is paying close attention to the region as a whole in the wake of a
OFF-TARGET: More than 30,000 participants were expected to take part in the Games next month, but only 6,550 foreign and 19,400 Taiwanese athletes have registered Taipei city councilors yesterday blasted the organizers of next month’s World Masters Games over sudden timetable and venue changes, which they said have caused thousands of participants to back out of the international sporting event, among other organizational issues. They also cited visa delays and political interference by China as reasons many foreign athletes are requesting refunds for the event, to be held from May 17 to 30. Jointly organized by the Taipei and New Taipei City governments, the games have been rocked by numerous controversies since preparations began in 2020. Taipei City Councilor Lin Yen-feng (林延鳳) said yesterday that new measures by
RSS