Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) lawmakers yesterday proposed health authorities punish food safety violations on a case-by-case basis to ensure that unscrupulous merchants are heavily penalized.
A political storm was triggered when a Food and Drug Administration inspector recently uncovered di(2-ethylhexyl) phthalate, or DEHP, in a food supplement, leading to further discoveries of the chemical in sports drinks and dietary supplements.
‘CLOUDY AGENT’
The source of contamination was traced back to a food additive from Yu Shen Chemical Co called a “cloudy agent,” commonly used in fruit jelly, yogurt mix powder, juice and other drinks.
KMT caucus whip Hsieh Kuo-liang (謝國樑) said manufacturers who knowingly adulterate food with toxic substances or sell such products should be charged with attempted murder.
At present, the maximum fine stipulated in the Act Governing Food Sanitation (食品衛生管理法) for such violations is NT$300,000 (US$10,300).
According to an amendment to the law proposed by KMT Legislator Huang Yi-chiao (黃義交), the maximum fine would be raised to NT$5 million, and in the event of serious violations, an offender could have his or her license revoked.
PRISON TERM
The bill also says that if a violation is determined to have had a serious impact on public health, offenders face a prison sentence of up to seven years and a maximum fine of NT$10 million, whereas the current maximum is three years and a NT$900,000 fine.
Meanwhile, KMT Legislator Lin Te-fu (林德福) urged prosecutors to temporarily freeze the assets of Yu Shen Chemical Co to prevent the owner from disposing of them.
AGING: While Japan has 22 submarines, Taiwan only operates four, two of which were commissioned by the US in 1945 and 1946, and transferred to Taiwan in 1973 Taiwan would need at least 12 submarines to reach modern fleet capabilities, CSBC Corp, Taiwan chairman Chen Cheng-hung (陳政宏) said in an interview broadcast on Friday, citing a US assessment. CSBC is testing the nation’s first indigenous defense submarine, the Hai Kun (海鯤, Narwhal), which is scheduled to be delivered to the navy next month or in July. The Hai Kun has completed torpedo-firing tests and is scheduled to undergo overnight sea trials, Chen said on an SET TV military affairs program. Taiwan would require at least 12 submarines to establish a modern submarine force after assessing the nation’s operational environment and defense
A white king snake that frightened passengers and caused a stir on a Taipei MRT train on Friday evening has been claimed by its owner, who would be fined, Taipei Rapid Transit Corp (TRTC) said yesterday. A person on Threads posted that he thought he was lucky to find an empty row of seats on Friday after boarding a train on the Bannan (Blue) Line, only to spot a white snake with black stripes after sitting down. Startled, he jumped up, he wrote, describing the encounter as “terrifying.” “Taipei’s rat control plan: Release snakes on the metro,” one person wrote in reply, referring
The coast guard today said that it had disrupted "illegal" operations by a Chinese research ship in waters close to the nation and driven it away, part of what Taipei sees a provocative pattern of China's stepped up maritime activities. The coast guard said that it on Thursday last week detected the Chinese ship Tongji (同濟號), which was commissioned only last year, 29 nautical miles (54km) southeast of the southern tip of Taiwan, although just outside restricted waters. The ship was observed lowering ropes into the water, suspected to be the deployment of scientific instruments for "illegal" survey operations, and the coast
Taiwan’s two cases of hantavirus so far this year are on par with previous years’ case numbers, and the government is coordinating rat extermination work, so there should not be any outbreaks, Centers for Disease Control (CDC) Director-General Philip Lo (羅一鈞) said today in an interview with the Liberty Times (the Taipei Times’ sister newspaper). An increase in rat sightings in Taipei and New Taipei City has raised concerns about the spread of hantavirus, as rats can carry the disease. In January, a man in his 70s who lived in Taipei’s Daan District (大安) tested positive posthumously for hantavirus, Taiwan’s
RSS