The Consumers’ Foundation yesterday criticized the government’s plan to inform consumers about US beef, saying about half of the restaurants it investigated did not inform customers about the origin of the beef they used.
The foundation said it had surveyed 50 restaurants across the country and 26 of them, or 52 percent, did not display information at their entrances on the origin of the beef they serve.
Twelve restaurants served US beef to customers, but did not disclose information about the origin of the meat, it said.
The foundation singled out two restaurants, Yayan Japanese Yakiniku Restaurant (野宴) and Very Thai (非常泰), which it said served bone-in US beef, but did not disclose this information to customers.
Twenty-four of the restaurants surveyed, or 48 percent, did not list on their menu the origin of the beef they used, the foundation said. Of these, five restaurants were found to serve US beef. Another 13 restaurants, or 26 percent, failed to provide documents to prove the origin of their beef imports.
Taiwan allows imports of bone-in beef from the US, but the recently revised Act Governing Food Sanitation (食品衛生管理法) blocks imports of offal and ground beef. The act stipulates that all beef imports must clearly show the country of origin, but the foundation urged the government to extend this requirement to cover restaurants and retail stores.
“The government only ‘encourages’ businesses to label the origin of their beef imports, but does not punish them if they do not comply,” foundation vice chairperson Joann Su (蘇錦霞) said.
“Consumers’ rights are still unprotected because they do not know whether they are eating foods that could potentially be at risk of mad cow disease,” she said.
The foundation urged the public not to expose themselves to unnecessary risks and to choose only food that they have confidence in.
In response to the foundation’s survey, Yayan issued a statement saying it uses beef from New Zealand. It said the foundation made mistakes in its investigation and demanded that it correct these errors.
Very Thai, owned by Tai Tong Food and Beverage Group, said that contrary to the foundation’s claims, the US beef that the restaurant uses is boneless and has passed all necessary inspections. Very Thai added that it was in the process of adding information about the origin of its beef on the menu and expects to complete the task today.
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