The National Food Safety Association yesterday reaffirmed its opposition to relaxing a ban on imports of meat with residue of the leanness-enhancing livestock feed additive ractopamine.
“Toxic beef is unstoppable, the government is unreliable, the people are on their own to say no to toxic beef” the civic groups called out at the legislature, two days before the start of the extra legislative session to vote on an amendment to the Act Governing Food Sanitation (食品衛生管理法).
Taipei City Wenshan Community College president Cheng Hsiu-chuan (鄭秀娟) said the association remains concerned about the negative health effects from eating meat containing ractopamine residue.
Photo: Liao Chen-huei, Taipei Times
“We disagree with the government’s decision to sacrifice public health, giving in to diplomatic tussles and political negotiations and we don’t believe in the 16-character guideline guaranteed by the government, because there have already been many cases of meat found with ractopamine residue even when it was banned by law,” she said.
Homemakers’ United Foundation secretary-general Lu Mei-luan (呂美鸞) said the adoption of maximum residue levels for ractopamine in beef and pork, made at the Codex Alimentarius Commission’s annual session earlier this month, has caused several legislators to give up their previous opposition, but the public’s concerns are still unanswered.
“We hope mothers can feel safe about the beef they buy from markets, knowing that it is healthy meat,” Lu said, pointing to two pieces of raw beef and a plate of dried beef, explaining that consumers would have no idea how much ractopamine residue is in beef products.
The National Association for the Promotion of Community Universities secretary-general Kao Ju-ping (高茹萍) said that although the commission decided this year to set maximum ractopamine residue levels, many countries which ban the use of ractopamine in meat were standing firm behind their strict regulations.
“If our government’s decision to lift the ban is made for economic and international trade considerations, it should at least tell people the truth, instead of having government agencies promise that the meat is safe,” Citizen Congress Watch executive director Chang Hung-lin (張宏林) said. “Don’t mislead people into thinking that its perfectly safe to eat meat with ractopamine residue.”
Hsu Li-min (許立民), a doctor at National Taiwan University Hospital, said the close result of the vote at the Codex Alimentarius Commission’s session indicated that the health risks of consuming meat with ractopamine residue are still debated around the world.
“It is a pity that the government cannot give reasonable answers to the reasonable concerns and questions brought up by civic groups,” Hsu said, urging people with chronic diseases or children under 36 months, who are more vulnerable to possible health risks, to minimize their beef intake.
Global bodies should stop excluding Taiwan for political reasons, President William Lai (賴清德) told Pope Francis in a letter, adding that he agrees war has no winners. The Vatican is one of only 12 countries to retain formal diplomatic ties with Taiwan, and Taipei has watched with concern efforts by Beijing and the Holy See to improve ties. In October, the Vatican and China extended an accord on the appointment of Catholic bishops in China for four years, pointing to a new level of trust between the two parties. Lai, writing to the pope in response to the pontiff’s message on Jan. 1’s
A Vietnamese migrant worker on Thursday won the NT$12 million (US$383,590) jackpot on a scratch-off lottery ticket she bought from a lottery shop in Changhua County’s Puyan Township (埔鹽), Taiwan Lottery Co said yesterday. The lottery winner, who is in her 30s and married, said she would continue to work in Taiwan and send her winnings to her family in Vietnam to improve their life. More Taiwanese and migrant workers have flocked to the lottery shop on Sec 2 of Jhangshuei Road (彰水路) to share in the luck. The shop owner, surnamed Chen (陳), said that his shop has been open for just
TAKE BREAKS: A woman developed cystitis by refusing to get up to use the bathroom while playing mahjong for fear of disturbing her winning streak, a doctor said People should stand up and move around often while traveling or playing mahjong during the Lunar New Year holiday, as prolonged sitting can lead to cystitis or hemorrhoids, doctors said. Yuan’s General Hospital urologist Lee Tsung-hsi (李宗熹) said that he treated a 63-year-old woman surnamed Chao (趙) who had been sitting motionless and holding off going to the bathroom, increasing her risk of bladder infection. Chao would drink beverages and not urinate for several hours while playing mahjong with friends and family, especially when she was on a winning streak, afraid that using the bathroom would ruin her luck, he said. She had
MUST REMAIN FREE: A Chinese takeover of Taiwan would lead to a global conflict, and if the nation blows up, the world’s factories would fall in a week, a minister said Taiwan is like Prague in 1938 facing Adolf Hitler; only if Taiwan remains free and democratic would the world be safe, Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Francois Wu (吳志中) said in an interview with Italian newspaper Corriere della Sera. The ministry on Saturday said Corriere della Sera is one of Italy’s oldest and most read newspapers, frequently covers European economic and political issues, and that Wu agreed to an interview with the paper’s senior political analyst Massimo Franco in Taipei on Jan. 3. The interview was published on Jan. 26 with the title “Taiwan like Prague in 1938 with Hitler,” the ministry
RSS