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
STATS: Taiwan’s average life expectancy of 80.77 years was lower than that of Japan, Singapore and South Korea, but higher than in China, Malaysia and Indonesia Taiwan’s average life expectancy last year increased to 80.77 years, but was still not back to its pre-COVID-19 pandemic peak of 81.32 years in 2020, the Ministry of the Interior said yesterday. The average life expectancy last year increased the 0.54 years from 2023, the ministry said in a statement. For men and women, the average life expectancy last year was 77.42 years and 84.30 years respectively, up 0.48 years and 0.56 years from the previous year. Taiwan’s average life expectancy peaked at 81.32 years in 2020, as the nation was relatively unaffected by the pandemic that year. The metric
Taiwan High Speed Rail Corp. (THSRC) plans to ease strained capacity during peak hours by introducing new fare rules restricting passengers traveling without reserved seats in 2026, company Chairman Shih Che (史哲) said Wednesday. THSRC needs to tackle its capacity issue because there have been several occasions where passengers holding tickets with reserved seats did not make it onto their train in stations packed with individuals traveling without a reserved seat, Shih told reporters in a joint interview in Taipei. Non-reserved seats allow travelers maximum flexibility, but it has led to issues relating to quality of service and safety concerns, especially during
A magnitude 5.1 earthquake struck Chiayi County at 4:37pm today, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. The hypocenter was 36.3km southeast of Chiayi County Hall at a depth of 10.4km, CWA data showed. There were no immediate reports of damage resulting from the quake. The intensity of the quake, which gauges the actual effect of a seismic event, measured 4 in Chiayi County, Tainan and Kaohsiung on Taiwan's seven-tier intensity scale, the data showed. The quake had an intensity of 3 in Chiayi City and Yunlin County, while it was measured as 2 in Pingtung, Taitung, Hualien, Changhua, Nantou and Penghu counties, the data
The Supreme Court today rejected an appeal filed by former Air Force officer Shih Chun-cheng (史濬程), convicted of Chinese Communist Party (CCP) espionage, finalizing his sentence at two years and two months for contravening the National Security Act (國家安全法). His other ruling, a ten-month sentence for an additional contravention, was meanwhile overturned and sent to the Taichung branch of the High Court for retrial, the Supreme Court said today. Prosecutors have been notified as Shih is considered a flight risk. Shih was recruited by Chinese Communist Party (CCP) intelligence officials after his retirement in 2008 and appointed as a supervisor