The Cabinet has launched its Food Safety Office, but given the structural complexity of food safety problems, the impact that the office’s two dozen employees will have in this area may have been overestimated. With its limited human resources, the office will be forced to work with diverse forces in society to integrate all resources and be effective.
At a time when both the government and the opposition are wracking their brains to come up with solutions to food safety issues, one suggestion could be for the government to guide the food science, nutrition, hospitality, chemistry or biochemistry departments at willing universities around the nation in the establishment of a national food safety inspection and certification center that could utilize the inspection instruments and equipment that the schools possess. That would be the most effective way of solving this urgent problem.
Pooling universities’ resources is in no way an unconventional or original suggestion, but something that is done in many other countries, where product labels say something to the effect that the item has passed inspection conducted by a laboratory at a certain university’s food science department.
This is more likely to gain the public’s trust than the so-called “I-Mei” amendment to the Act Governing Food Safety and Sanitation (食品安全衛生管理法), which recently passed a first legislative reading and would require food manufacturers of a certain size to set up laboratories to inspect their products.
While having firms set up a laboratory to carry out inspections by themselves is a well-intended idea, letting manufacturers assess their own products is a bit like making them both player and referee. Under such a mechanism, it will be difficult to build public trust and confidence in companies’ ability to handle these unclear and contradictory roles.
Furthermore, setting up such an inspection laboratory would require a substantial investment and would be time consuming — it is not a solution that will calm the public in the short term. In addition, setting up such laboratories may not be financially feasible for smaller food manufacturers.
If university departments are to obtain government certification to inspect food products, a reasonable process must be put in place first. The Ministry of Health and Welfare would have to select the departments and executive staff in cooperation with the industry, or by laying down rules and regulations for certifying food inspection units, as well as the relevant training programs.
The ministry would also have to station inspectors at these units to operate and direct staff in sample product testing and managing hygiene.
Food manufacturers are spread out all over Taiwan, they are not concentrated in any specific area. By allocating the area surrounding a university as the area of responsibility for its certification centers and then carrying out regular product sampling and inspection in those areas, the geographical position of the participating universities could be used to use resources in a more effective manner.
With the assistance of the Ministry of Education and the Ministry of Science and Technology, many universities and colleges have obtained the basic instruments for conducting food safety inspections in recent years. The resource sharing suggestion would not only put all this equipment to good use, it would also provide students with practical training. It would have a positive effect on the industry, public affairs and academia.
If such a system is set up, a fee-based scheme could be introduced under which those requiring a safety review of their food product can pay a set fee for each inspection. The money made from the fees would then be used to pay staff costs and would therefore help solve several food safety-related problems, such as the shortage of inspection personnel.
The system would also make it easier for food manufacturers to adhere to the law by facilitating the process of initiating safety inspections. Making inspections more convenient and timely would also benefit those in the food and beverage industry that could be potential victims of safety issues.
A solution to the food safety problem cannot consist solely of short-term measures, it requires long-term investment, follow-up and certification — and these will not bring immediate short term results.
If departments in suitable universities obtain government authority to become food safety certification centers, they would be able to provide experts for the field and help introduce stricter food controls for safeguarding public safety and health.
The implementations of this solution would further highlight the effectiveness of prevention and could also help improve the widely held impression that many graduates have difficulty finding suitable jobs. It is something that the authorities should give some serious thought to.
Charles Yu is an assistant professor in Tungnan University’s department of leisure management.
Translated by Perry Svensson
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