The Taiwan Association of Food Protection yesterday cautioned people over the damage caused by excessive sodium intake, after a recent test by the Taipei City Department of Health revealed that the amount of sodium in some instant noodles exceeded the amount stated on the packages by almost threefold.
Last month, the Department of Health randomly tested the sodium content of 35 samples of instant noodles and found that six of them had falsely stated their sodium content on the ingredient labels.
Of these six, one had a sodium content lower than the amount indicated on the label, but the other five contained more sodium than advertised on the products’ packaging.
The Taiwan Association of Food Protection subsequently released a report by Cheng Chin-pao (鄭金寶), the director of the department of dietetics at National Taiwan University Hospital, alterting consumers of instant noodles to the guidance on dietary salt intake issued by the WHO.
In the report, Cheng said that some brand-name instant noodles contain as much as 2,900mg of sodium per pack, an amount that exceeds the recommended daily intake by almost 1.5 times.
The new guidelines on sodium intake issued by the WHO state that “adults should consume less than 2,000mg of sodium, or 5g of salt” per day.
The organization also warns that an individual with elevated sodium levels “could be at risk of raised blood pressure, which increases the risk of heart disease and stroke.”
However, the latest national Nutrition and Health Survey, conducted by the Department of Health, shows that the daily salt intake of the average Taiwanese adult is between 9g and 10g, far higher than the WHO’s recommended amount.
The survey also showed that the salt intake of those who often eat out or favor salty food can be as high as 15g a day, indicating that the average Taiwanese is at risk of damaging their health due to excessive sodium intake.
WANG RELEASED: A police investigation showed that an organized crime group allegedly taught their clients how to pretend to be sick during medical exams Actor Darren Wang (王大陸) and 11 others were released on bail yesterday, after being questioned for allegedly dodging compulsory military service or forging documents to help others avoid serving. Wang, 33, was catapulted into stardom for his role in the coming-of-age film Our Times (我的少女時代). Lately, he has been focusing on developing his entertainment career in China. The New Taipei District Prosecutors’ Office last month began investigating an organized crime group that is allegedly helping men dodge compulsory military service using falsified documents. Police in New Taipei City Yonghe Precinct at the end of last month arrested the main suspect,
A cat named Mikan (蜜柑) has brought in revenue of more than NT$10 million (US$305,390) for the Kaohsiung MRT last year. Mikan, born on April 4, 2020, was a stray cat before being adopted by personnel of Kaohsiung MRT’s Ciaotou Sugar Refinery Station. Mikan was named after a Japanese term for mandarin orange due to his color and because he looks like an orange when curled up. He was named “station master” of Ciaotou Sugar Refinery Station in September 2020, and has since become famous. With Kaohsiung MRT’s branding, along with the release of a set of cultural and creative products, station master Mikan
Eleven people, including actor Darren Wang (王大陸), were taken into custody today for questioning regarding the evasion of compulsory military service and document forgery, the New Taipei District Prosecutors’ Office said. Eight of the people, including Wang, are suspected of evading military service, while three are suspected of forging medical documents to assist them, the report said. They are all being questioned by police and would later be transferred to the prosecutors’ office for further investigation. Three men surnamed Lee (李), Chang (張) and Lin (林) are suspected of improperly assisting conscripts in changing their military classification from “stand-by
LITTORAL REGIMENTS: The US Marine Corps is transitioning to an ‘island hopping’ strategy to counterattack Beijing’s area denial strategy The US Marine Corps (USMC) has introduced new anti-drone systems to bolster air defense in the Pacific island chain amid growing Chinese military influence in the region, The Telegraph reported on Sunday. The new Marine Air Defense Integrated System (MADIS) Mk 1 is being developed to counter “the growing menace of unmanned aerial systems,” it cited the Marine Corps as saying. China has constructed a powerful defense mechanism in the Pacific Ocean west of the first island chain by deploying weapons such as rockets, submarines and anti-ship missiles — which is part of its anti-access/area denial (A2/AD) strategy against adversaries — the