Public most worried about questionable food: survey

The public considers low quality food to be the most worrisome public health problem in the nation, the Taipei Medical University found in its latest opinion poll.

In the survey, whose results were published on Sunday, 33 percent of respondents said "substandard" foods originating mostly in China or elsewhere outside of Taiwan, posed the greatest threat to people's health.

A total of 32.4 percent of respondents said "how to lead a healthy life" was the most important issue for them, according to Han Bor-cheng (韓柏檉) of the university's Department of Public Health.

The university conducted the telephone survey last month, obtaining 660 valid responses from adults randomly selected in major cities around the country. The survey had a margin of error of 3.1 percentage points, Han said.

Only 12.3 percent of those surveyed identified avian flu as the most critical public health issue, the poll found.

Meanwhile, 42.6 percent considered many news reports or TV talk shows to be commercial ploys by private companies to promote their products. Another 45 percent disapproved of entertainers or celebrities appearing on television or in print media to promote health products.