Popular herbal remedy drinks Paolyta B (保力達B) and Sanyo Whisbih (維士比) are alcoholic beverages categorized as a non-prescription medication and are prohibited from being sold at convenience stores, betel nut stands or other business establishments without a drug company license, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) said yesterday.
“The administration and local health departments inspected a total of 105 betel nut stands in Taipei City, Greater Taichung and Greater Kaohsiung last month, of which 14 were found illegally selling the herbal liquors without a permit,” FDA Northern Center section head Wu Ming-mei (吳明美) told a press conference in Taipei yesterday morning.
However, the national retailer violation rate concerning alcoholic herbal beverages sales dropped from 38 percent in a March inspection to 13 percent in the inspection conducted last month, Wu said.
The significant decrease indicates that the administration’s frequent impromptu inspections have helped deter such irregularities, which is punishable by a fine ranging from NT$30,000 to NT$150,000 as stipulated in Article 92 of the Pharmaceutical Affairs Act (藥事法), she added.
Wu said the herbal beverages are often consumed by construction site workers before or during work because they are believed to be effective in relieving fatigue.
“However, as such drinks contain an alcohol content of about 9 or 10 percent, which could impede the workers’ concentration during work, most of which involves operating heavy construction equipment, it therefore puts their safety at risk,” Wu said.
There have also been multiple cases in which blue-collar workers have been sentenced to several months in prison for driving under the influence after drinking the herbal drinks, she said.
“Consumers are advised to drink the herbal liquors no more than three times a day and less than 40 mililiters each time,” Wu said.
“Long-term or overconsumption of the alcohol-laced beverages would have the same detrimental effect on the liver as any other alcoholic drinks would,” Wu said.
The Taipei City Government yesterday said contractors organizing its New Year’s Eve celebrations would be held responsible after a jumbo screen played a Beijing-ran television channel near the event’s end. An image showing China Central Television (CCTV) Channel 3 being displayed was posted on the social media platform Threads, sparking an outcry on the Internet over Beijing’s alleged political infiltration of the municipal government. A Taipei Department of Information and Tourism spokesman said event workers had made a “grave mistake” and that the Television Broadcasts Satellite (TVBS) group had the contract to operate the screens. The city would apply contractual penalties on TVBS
A new board game set against the backdrop of armed conflict around Taiwan is to be released next month, amid renewed threats from Beijing, inviting players to participate in an imaginary Chinese invasion 20 years from now. China has ramped up military activity close to Taiwan in the past few years, including massing naval forces around the nation. The game, titled 2045, tasks players with navigating the troubles of war using colorful action cards and role-playing as characters involved in operations 10 days before a fictional Chinese invasion of Taiwan. That includes members of the armed forces, Chinese sleeper agents and pro-China politicians
The lowest temperature in a low-lying area recorded early yesterday morning was in Miaoli County’s Gongguan Township (公館), at 6.8°C, due to a strong cold air mass and the effect of radiative cooling, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. In other areas, Chiayi’s East District (東區) recorded a low of 8.2°C and Yunlin County’s Huwei Township (虎尾) recorded 8.5°C, CWA data showed. The cold air mass was at its strongest from Saturday night to the early hours of yesterday. It brought temperatures down to 9°C to 11°C in areas across the nation and the outlying Kinmen and Lienchiang (Matsu) counties,
STAY VIGILANT: When experiencing symptoms of carbon monoxide poisoning, such as dizziness or fatigue, near a water heater, open windows and doors to ventilate the area Rooftop flue water heaters should only be installed outdoors or in properly ventilated areas to prevent toxic gas from building up, the Yilan County Fire Department said, after a man in Taipei died of carbon monoxide poisoning on Monday last week. The 39-year-old man, surnamed Chen (陳), an assistant professor at Providence University in Taichung, was at his Taipei home for the holidays when the incident occurred, news reports said. He was taking a shower in the bathroom of a rooftop addition when carbon monoxide — a poisonous byproduct of combustion — leaked from a water heater installed in a poorly ventilated
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