Doctors and oral cancer patients yesterday condemned a "betel nut culture convention" which began yesterday in Kaohsiung.
The convention features betel nut products, betel nut art and a bevy of scantily clad girls, better known as "betel nut beauties" (
Taking advantage of the sizeable number of foreign visitors to the convention, the organizers held an impromptu "big nose betel nut rolling" competition.
PHOTO: HU CHING-HUI, TAIPEI TIMES
"Many foreign visitors were curious to try betel nut for the first time," Li Shuo-min (李碩敏), one of the event organizers, said yesterday.
"Betel nut use is a part of Taiwanese culture, and should not be oppressed by the government," she said.
criticism
Although Li claimed that the convention was about "celebrating betel nut culture" rather than promoting betel nut use, the event nonetheless drew criticism from Hahn Liang-jiunn (
"Can you imagine a similar event being held to promote tobacco?" asked Hahn at a press conference held in Taipei by the DOH's Bureau of Health Promotion.
Critical of the government's relatively lax regulation of the addictive seed of the betel palm, Hahn said that standards for advertising and warning labels should be as strict for betel nuts as for tobacco.
"The medical evidence is clear -- betel nut is harmful to human health," he said.
"The nut itself, not just the lime paste it is served with, has been identified as carcinogenic in humans by the International Agency for Research on Cancer," Hahn said.
He also slammed the Council of Agriculture (COA) for not doing more to discourage the crop.
"Betel nut should not be considered just another crop. It certainly should not be subsidized by the government," Hahn said.
"The proposed reimbursement for betel nut farmers whose crops are destroyed by natural disasters is still under discussion," said Huang Mei-hua (黃美華), director of the COA's crop production division.
mouth cancer
Sixty-year-old Tsai Lin-chang (蔡林樟) shared his story at the press conference to illustrate Hahn's concerns. Tsai contracted mouth cancer in his left cheek in his twenties after heavy betel nut use in his youth.
Yet he continued to chew until he got mouth cancer a second time, this time in his right cheek which resulted in the removal of much of his cheek and jaw.
"Chewing betel nuts is just not worth it," he said, having been left permanently disfigured and with a speech impediment.
"No matter how they package it or who is selling it, a betel nut is a betel nut and it will still give you cancer," he said. "Don't be fooled by the marketing."
Studies have shown that in countries and communities where betel nut is consumed extensively, there are vastly higher levels of oral cancer than elsewhere.
Betel nut chewers in Taiwan have been found to have a 28 times higher risk of acquiring oral cancer than non-users.
Betel chewing is addictive, and some practitioners consume vast quantities.
A magnitude 6.4 earthquake struck off the coast of Hualien County in eastern Taiwan at 7pm yesterday, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. The epicenter of the temblor was at sea, about 69.9km south of Hualien County Hall, at a depth of 30.9km, it said. There were no immediate reports of damage resulting from the quake. The earthquake’s intensity, which gauges the actual effect of a temblor, was highest in Taitung County’s Changbin Township (長濱), where it measured 5 on Taiwan’s seven-tier intensity scale. The quake also measured an intensity of 4 in Hualien, Nantou, Chiayi, Yunlin, Changhua and Miaoli counties, as well as
Taiwan is to have nine extended holidays next year, led by a nine-day Lunar New Year break, the Cabinet announced yesterday. The nine-day Lunar New Year holiday next year matches the length of this year’s holiday, which featured six extended holidays. The increase in extended holidays is due to the Act on the Implementation of Commemorative and Festival Holidays (紀念日及節日實施條例), which was passed early last month with support from the opposition Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) and Taiwan People’s Party. Under the new act, the day before Lunar New Year’s Eve is also a national holiday, and Labor Day would no longer be limited
COMMITMENTS: The company had a relatively low renewable ratio at 56 percent and did not have any goal to achieve 100 percent renewable energy, the report said Pegatron Corp ranked the lowest among five major final assembly suppliers in progressing toward Apple Inc’s commitment to be 100 percent carbon neutral by 2030, a Greenpeace East Asia report said yesterday. While Apple has set the goal of using 100 percent renewable energy across its entire business, supply chain and product lifecycle by 2030, carbon emissions from electronics manufacturing are rising globally due to increased energy consumption, it said. Given that carbon emissions from its supply chain accounted for more than half of its total emissions last year, Greenpeace East Asia evaluated the green transition performance of Apple’s five largest final
Taiwan is to extend its visa-waiver program for Philippine passport holders for another year, starting on Aug. 1, Minister of Foreign Affairs Lin Chia-lung (林佳龍) said on Friday. Lin made the announcement during a reception in Taipei marking the 127th anniversary of Philippine independence and the 50th anniversary of the establishment of the Manila Economic and Cultural Office (MECO) in Taiwan, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said. The decision reflected Taiwan’s commitment to deepening exchanges with the Philippines, the statement cited Lin as saying, adding that it was a key partner under the New Southbound Policy launched in 2016. Lin also expressed hope
RSS