Following another food safety scare after the possible contamination of locally produced infant formula, the Department of Health (DOH) said yesterday it plans to include Enterobacter Sakazakii tests in its mandatory food safety inspection procedures, possibly by as early as April.
Chinese media recently reported that infant formula produced by Taiwan’s Wei Chuan Corp (味全食品) was destroyed after testing positive for E. Sakazakii during inspections by Chinese customs officials.
Beside Wei Chuan, 13 other Taiwanese companies were reported to have produced foods that have not passed safety tests performed by Chinese officials between last August and November.
The names of the companies have been posted on the official Web site of China’s General Administration of Quality Supervision, Inspection and Quarantine.
Although Wei Chuan’s possibly contaminated product was not being marketed in Taiwan, the food scare prompted Taiwan’s health officials to launch a probe into whether the products are indeed contaminated and determine at which points in the production or distribution process the problems, if any, occurred.
“If the [possibly contaminated] products are being sold in Taiwan, first, we have to confirm whether [the reports] are true, so we can take samples for testing,” said Lin Syue-rong (林雪榮), director of the Bureau of Food Safety.
“We need to get more details on what the situation is in China — whether something is wrong with the products, or some problem occurred during the shipping process,” she said. “We can’t make an assessment based solely on information from China.”
Lin said the DOH would send officials to inspect all factories where a problem could exist and, if necessary, issue fines and remove products from shelves.
In view of recent events, the health department said it was planning to add tests for E. Sakazakii to its mandatory food safety inspection procedure.
E. Sakazakii is a rod-shaped bacteria that can cause meningitis in newborns, as well as necrotizing enterocolitis, or tissue death in the digestive system.
Infections have been linked to infant formula, with a mortality rate of 50 percent.
The Codex Alimentarius Commission, a food safety committee created by the WHO, announced last year it would include in its Codex code criteria on limiting E. Sakazakii in powdered infant formula.
Although E. Sakazakii is very rare, the health department will meet with academics and experts to discuss including E. Sakazakii tests to ensure food safety, Lin said.
Once the plan is approved, the mandatory test could be in effect as early as April, she said.
Taiwan would benefit from more integrated military strategies and deployments if the US and its allies treat the East China Sea, the Taiwan Strait and the South China Sea as a “single theater of operations,” a Taiwanese military expert said yesterday. Shen Ming-shih (沈明室), a researcher at the Institute for National Defense and Security Research, said he made the assessment after two Japanese military experts warned of emerging threats from China based on a drill conducted this month by the Chinese People’s Liberation Army’s (PLA) Eastern Theater Command. Japan Institute for National Fundamentals researcher Maki Nakagawa said the drill differed from the
‘WORSE THAN COMMUNISTS’: President William Lai has cracked down on his political enemies and has attempted to exterminate all opposition forces, the chairman said The legislature would motion for a presidential recall after May 20, Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Chairman Eric Chu (朱立倫) said yesterday at a protest themed “against green communists and dictatorship” in Taipei. Taiwan is supposed to be a peaceful homeland where people are united, but President William Lai (賴清德) has been polarizing and tearing apart society since his inauguration, Chu said. Lai must show his commitment to his job, otherwise a referendum could be initiated to recall him, he said. Democracy means the rule of the people, not the rule of the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP), but Lai has failed to fulfill his
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
A rally held by opposition parties yesterday demonstrates that Taiwan is a democratic country, President William Lai (賴清德) said yesterday, adding that if opposition parties really want to fight dictatorship, they should fight it on Tiananmen Square in Beijing. The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) held a protest with the theme “against green communists and dictatorship,” and was joined by the Taiwan People’s Party. Lai said the opposition parties are against what they called the “green communists,” but do not fight against the “Chinese communists,” adding that if they really want to fight dictatorship, they should go to the right place and face
RSS