■SOCIETY
Beef shipments pass test
The shipment of US bone-in beef that arrived in Taiwan on Friday obtained import inspection certificates from the Bureau of Standards, Meteorology and Inspection, the Bureau of Animal and Plant Health Inspection, and Quarantine and Customs yesterday. The 163kg of beef products, shipped in six packages, will hit the market soon, customs officials said. The shipments were approved based on the principles of “three controls, five certifications.” The three controls refer to the controls on the beef products at the source, at borders and in markets. The five certifications are related to verifying US documentation, checking that shipments are marked with detailed product information, opening a high percentage of the containers to check the product, conducting food safety tests and being able to obtain immediate information on any suspected problems. Another shipment is scheduled to arrive on Friday.
■HEALTH
Preserved fruit fail tests
Nearly 30 percent of dried fruit and pickled vegetables on the market do not meet safety standards because they contain excessive levels of additives, a Taipei City health official said yesterday. The city’s Department of Health recently conducted random inspections of 97 samples of dried fruit and pickled and dehydrated vegetable products sold in hypermarkets, traditional markets and the Dihua Street Commercial Circle, said Chiang Yu-mei (姜郁美), director of the Food and Drug Division. Twenty-six of the samples, or 26.8 percent, failed to pass food safety tests, she said, while 11 were improperly labeled. Seventeen of the 51 samples of dried fruit — or 33 percent — did not meet standards because they contained excessive amounts of artificial sweetener or cyclamate, Chiang said. One manufactured in Changhua County was found to contain cyclamate levels 20 times higher than the permissible amount, she said. Nine of the 35 pickled vegetable samples failed because they contained excessive levels of benzoic acid. In the case of five manufacturers, it was the second straight year their products failed to meet safety standards, so the health department will ask them to pull the products from store shelves, Chiang said.
■SOCIETY
Taiwan’s ranking rises
Taiwan inched forward in the latest annual quality-of-life index published by European travel magazine International Living. In this year’s issue, released last week, the magazine ranked Taiwan 57th among the 192 countries surveyed — an improvement of two places. Taiwan ranked above Singapore and China, but below Japan and South Korea, while France placed first. Taiwan garnered high marks for its environment, healthcare and freedoms, but lost out because of the high cost of living and dismal economy. The publication also considers leisure, culture and climate, using an analysis of data from official sources, including government Web sites, the WHO and the UN.
■SOCIETY
Zoo ready for lemurs
Kaohsiung City’s Shoushan Zoo is ready to welcome lemurs from Madagascar, spokesman Chang Po-yu (張博宇) said yesterday. Chang said the zoo had prepared an area to accommodate lemurs after it completed its renovation last year. The former speaker of the Madagascar Congress, Voninahitsy Jean Eugene, told Kaohsiung Mayor Chen Chu (陳菊) during a visit on Friday that he would help the city import lemurs. Chen told him that Taiwanese had developed an interest in the animals because of the animated film Madagascar.
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