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Health minister Yeh plays down threat posed by melamine

The recent melamine scare was a “small case” as there are other threats such as enterovirus and flu that are far more worrying than the toxic industrial chemical, Department of Health Minister Yeh Ching-chuan (葉金川) said yesterday.

Yeh made the remarks at an event held at the National Health Research Institutes (國家衛生研究院) in Miaoli.

Raw material imported from China for milk powder and creamers was found to be tainted with melamine in September.

The discovery led to product recalls by several companies in Taiwan and caused a panic among consumers.

Commenting on recent plans by the Executive Yuan to establish a Taiwan Food and Drug Administration, Yeh said the recent health scare was only one of the reasons that prompted the government to set up a food and drug management mechanism.

“Melamine actually is not that scary. I was the only one in the whole of Taiwan that got hurt by melamine, my neck was a bit painful...” Yeh said.

He was referring to an incident on Oct. 3 during which he was caught in a clash between pan-blue and pan-green lawmakers at a press conference at the legislature about the melamine issue.

During the scuffle, Yeh was grabbed by the neck and throttled.

He was subsequently taken to hospital, suffering from dizziness, cardiac arrythmia and high blood pressure.
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