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MND assures public its food is safe

"Under such strict food inspection, there is no chance of suspect meat products being channeled into the military."

Major General Chang Peng-tsu, director of the MND's General Welfare Service Department

The Ministry of National Defense (MND) yesterday assured the public that all meat products consumed in the military are of high quality and have passed strict safety checks.

The ministry was responding to recent news reports alleging that meat from sick animals had been sold to the military.

The General Welfare Service Department, which is responsible supplying the military's food, strongly denied the allegations.

Major General Chang Peng-tsu (張鵬初), director of the department, said yesterday at a regular ministry press conference that all meat products that the military buys from civilian providers must pass strict safety checks.

"We introduced in 1995 the CAS (Chinese Agriculture Standards) food inspection system following recommendations by the Council of Agriculture," Chang said.

"Besides the CAS system, we also put the meat products we buy through random checks by specialists from the National Animal Industry Foundation," he said.

"Under such strict food inspection, there is no chance of suspect meat products being channeled into the military," he said.

Recent media reports said that sick pigs and poultry had been slaughtered in southern Taiwan and the meat possibly sold to the military.

Chang acknowledged that for the sake of flexibility, each military unit is allowed to buy food products from suppliers of its own choice -- rather than from authorized food stations across the country -- which would not undergo the military's strict testing procedures.

"Each unit has the autonomy to buy 10 percent of its daily food rations from suppliers outside of the food stations. The practice allows for changes of menu, which used to be too fixed," Chang said.

He did not explain, however, whether enough precautionary measures had been taken to guard against unsafe food.

Nevertheless, a defense official who did not want to be named said no problems had been found with food bought from other sources.

The food supply chain in the military is basically very simple. Every day, each unit sends a car to its nearest food station to buy all the food that it needs for the day.
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