FOOD SAFETY
FDA to investigate candy
The Ministry of Health and Welfare has ordered the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to investigate “wax candy” products from China that have appeared for sale on Taiwanese shopping sites, Deputy Minister of Health and Welfare Lin Ching-yi (林靜儀) said on Tuesday. The sellers might have contravened the Act Governing Food Safety and Sanitation (食品安全衛生管理法) as well as the Regulations Governing Trade Between the Taiwan Area and the Mainland Area (台灣地區與大陸地區貿易許可辦法) if they did not obtain a permit to import the products, Lin said. Information on the e-commerce sites shows that the candies have an outer layer of wax encasing jam or syrup, she said. However, the contents are likely to be processed foods, made with artificial flavors and coloring, she said, adding that the candies raise food safety concerns. People should exercise caution before buying the products because it is uncertain whether they contain illegal additives, she said. People can report suspicious products to their local health bureaus, she added.
Screen grab from Taobao
TRAVEL
Tigerair adds Miyazaki route
Tigerair Taiwan is adding a new route between Taoyuan and Miyazaki, Japan, starting from Nov. 26, the budget carrier said yesterday. The city of about 400,000 on the southern island of Kyushu would be the airline’s 20th destination in Japan, as Tigerair prepares to celebrate the 10th anniversary of its first flight. Miyazaki is a historic city “full of myth,” with shrines including Miyazaki Shrine, Amanoiwato Shrine and Takachiho Shrine, the carrier said. The city also has attractions such as Takachiho Gorge and Sun Messe Nichinan, a park renowned for its seven Moai statues restored with permission from Easter Island, the Taoyuan-based airline said. The carrier would initially offer one weekly round-trip flight for the new route, departing from Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport at 6:30am on Tuesdays, with return flight leaving Miyazaki at 10:10am the same day. To celebrate the new route, the airline said it would also sell one-way tickets from 10am on Thursday to 11:59pm on Friday. Tigerair reported its highest-ever consolidated sales of NT$1.53 billion (US$16.64 million) for last month, up NT$292 million from a year earlier. The number of flights it offered last month rose 20 percent amid a global tourism boom in the post-COVID-19-pandemic era, while the number of flights increased 40 percent in the first eight months of this year compared with the previous year.
TRANSPORTATION
EV charging stations opened
The Freeway Bureau on Tuesday last week announced the completion of fast-charging stations for electric vehicles (EVs) at all freeway service areas. That includes 23 fast-charging stations, 85 charging piles and 154 EV parking spaces in 15 service areas and the Eastern Caotun Rest Area. The nationwide charging network was established to meet demand for charging infrastructure amid the rapid growth of EVs, the bureau said in a news release. The facilities were completed in three phases over several years. The 23 fast-charging stations, with a total capacity of more than 27 megawatts, are along highways Nos. 1, 3, 5 and 6, covering the northern, central, southern and eastern parts of Taiwan proper, it said. All the stations are equipped with fast-charging piles with a capacity of 200 kilowatts (kW) or more, with 70 percent offering 350kW to 360kW, enabling quick charging during short rest stops. Drivers can check real-time charging pile availability on the bureau’s Freeway 1968 app.
TRAGEDY: An expert said that the incident was uncommon as the chance of a ground crew member being sucked into an IDF engine was ‘minuscule’ A master sergeant yesterday morning died after she was sucked into an engine during a routine inspection of a fighter jet at an air base in Taichung, the Air Force Command Headquarters said. The officer, surnamed Hu (胡), was conducting final landing checks at Ching Chuan Kang (清泉崗) Air Base when she was pulled into the jet’s engine for unknown reasons, the air force said in a news release. She was transported to a hospital for emergency treatment, but could not be revived, it said. The air force expressed its deepest sympathies over the incident, and vowed to work with authorities as they
BITTERLY COLD: The inauguration ceremony for US president-elect Donald Trump has been moved indoors due to cold weather, with the new venue lacking capacity A delegation of cross-party lawmakers from Taiwan, led by Legislative Speaker Han Kuo-yu (韓國瑜), for the inauguration of US president-elect Donald Trump, would not be able to attend the ceremony, as it is being moved indoors due to forecasts of intense cold weather in Washington tomorrow. The inauguration ceremony for Trump and US vice president-elect JD Vance is to be held inside the Capitol Rotunda, which has a capacity of about 2,000 people. A person familiar with the issue yesterday said although the outdoor inauguration ceremony has been relocated, Taiwan’s legislative delegation has decided to head off to Washington as scheduled. The delegation
A tourist who was struck and injured by a train in a scenic area of New Taipei City’s Pingsi District (平溪) on Monday might be fined for trespassing on the tracks, the Railway Police Bureau said yesterday. The New Taipei City Fire Department said it received a call at 4:37pm on Monday about an incident in Shifen (十分), a tourist destination on the Pingsi Railway Line. After arriving on the scene, paramedics treated a woman in her 30s for a 3cm to 5cm laceration on her head, the department said. She was taken to a hospital in Keelung, it said. Surveillance footage from a
Another wave of cold air would affect Taiwan starting from Friday and could evolve into a continental cold mass, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said yesterday. Temperatures could drop below 10°C across Taiwan on Monday and Tuesday next week, CWA forecaster Chang Chun-yao (張竣堯) said. Seasonal northeasterly winds could bring rain, he said. Meanwhile, due to the continental cold mass and radiative cooling, it would be cold in northern and northeastern Taiwan today and tomorrow, according to the CWA. From last night to this morning, temperatures could drop below 10°C in northern Taiwan, it said. A thin coat of snow
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