Environmentalists and legislators yesterday urged the government to set up national criteria for dioxin in both fodder and food in order to effectively prevent public health from being jeopardized, as a newly-released government report indicated that several brands of fresh milk contain dioxins at levels exceeding the EU's limits.
According to Green Formosa Front chairman Wu Tung-jye (
At a press conference held yesterday at the Legislative Yuan, Wu, environmentalists, and legislators jointly released a digest of the report regarding potential threats to public health.
The digest indicates that dioxin levels of three popular brands are 3.28 pg WHO-TEQ/g fat, 2.45 pg WHO-TEQ/g fat and 2.08 pg WHO-TEQ/g fat respectively.
"We don't quite understand why health officials did not publish the names of these irresponsible brands. Instead, they stayed very low-keyed and said people would not absorb threatening levels of dioxins, because of Taiwanese diet habits," Wu said.
Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Legislator Eugene Jao (
"Especially, we need to clarify sources of dioxin in milk in order to ensure the reputation of Taiwanese dairy industry," Jao said.
In addition, Jao said that Cabinet needs to set up a taskforce involving diverse agencies to establish national criteria for dioxin in not only food but also fodder.
Hsiao Tung-ming (
"Since such dioxin levels pose no immediate danger and the lack of national criteria, it's unnecessary to publicize names of milk producers," Hsiao said.
However, environmental groups strongly expressed their opposition against the DOH's intention to settle disputes.
Her-lin Hsieh (謝和霖) of the Taiwan Watch Institute (看守台灣協會) said the DOH's attitude falls behind global trends because newly implemented Stockholm Convention, a global treaty designed to protect the environment from POPs (persistent organic pollutants), indicates that information pertaining to human health and environmental safety should not be concealed from the public.
"It's very ironic that Taiwan had proposed entry into the World Health Organization but officials' attitudes were so conservative," Hsieh said.
Eric Liou (
Liou said that the DOH seemed to understate potential dangers resulting from long-term exposure to dioxin for babies, children and expectant mothers
"If such essential information remains unavailable to the public, what else can we taxpayers expect from the government?" Liou said.
Also See Story:
Toxic foods killing thousands, UN told
Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Chairman Eric Chu (朱立倫), spokeswoman Yang Chih-yu (楊智伃) and Legislator Hsieh Lung-chieh (謝龍介) would be summoned by police for questioning for leading an illegal assembly on Thursday evening last week, Minister of the Interior Liu Shyh-fang (劉世芳) said today. The three KMT officials led an assembly outside the Taipei City Prosecutors’ Office, a restricted area where public assembly is not allowed, protesting the questioning of several KMT staff and searches of KMT headquarters and offices in a recall petition forgery case. Chu, Yang and Hsieh are all suspected of contravening the Assembly and Parade Act (集會遊行法) by holding
PRAISE: Japanese visitor Takashi Kubota said the Taiwanese temple architecture images showcased in the AI Art Gallery were the most impressive displays he saw Taiwan does not have an official pavilion at the World Expo in Osaka, Japan, because of its diplomatic predicament, but the government-backed Tech World pavilion is drawing interest with its unique recreations of works by Taiwanese artists. The pavilion features an artificial intelligence (AI)-based art gallery showcasing works of famous Taiwanese artists from the Japanese colonial period using innovative technologies. Among its main simulated displays are Eastern gouache paintings by Chen Chin (陳進), Lin Yu-shan (林玉山) and Kuo Hsueh-hu (郭雪湖), who were the three young Taiwanese painters selected for the East Asian Painting exhibition in 1927. Gouache is a water-based
Taiwan would welcome the return of Honduras as a diplomatic ally if its next president decides to make such a move, Minister of Foreign Affairs Lin Chia-lung (林佳龍) said yesterday. “Of course, we would welcome Honduras if they want to restore diplomatic ties with Taiwan after their elections,” Lin said at a meeting of the legislature’s Foreign Affairs and National Defense Committee, when asked to comment on statements made by two of the three Honduran presidential candidates during the presidential campaign in the Central American country. Taiwan is paying close attention to the region as a whole in the wake of a
OFF-TARGET: More than 30,000 participants were expected to take part in the Games next month, but only 6,550 foreign and 19,400 Taiwanese athletes have registered Taipei city councilors yesterday blasted the organizers of next month’s World Masters Games over sudden timetable and venue changes, which they said have caused thousands of participants to back out of the international sporting event, among other organizational issues. They also cited visa delays and political interference by China as reasons many foreign athletes are requesting refunds for the event, to be held from May 17 to 30. Jointly organized by the Taipei and New Taipei City governments, the games have been rocked by numerous controversies since preparations began in 2020. Taipei City Councilor Lin Yen-feng (林延鳳) said yesterday that new measures by
RSS