President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) yesterday instructed the Department of Health to examine food safety mechanisms amid a recent food scare and promised to uncover more “devils” hidden in the details with stricter inspections.
“We need to examine the food safety mechanisms and see if there are any loopholes so that we can discover the devils in the detail,” Ma said at the Chinese Nationalist Party’s (KMT) Central Standing Committee meeting, over which he presides as party chairman.
Department of Health Minister Chiu Wen-ta (邱文達) reported to the committee about the ministry’s handling of recent incidents involving the use of di(2-ethylhexyl) phthalate, or DEHP, in clouding agents. The Environmental Protection Agency and Consumer Protection Commission also reported on the measures they took to cooperate with the department’s inspections.
On Tuesday, the department launched a nationwide inspection of five categories of food and beverages at stores, demanding that the stores present certificates verifying that their products were free of six banned chemicals.
Ma lauded a Food and Drug Administration inspector surnamed Yang (楊) for discovering the use of DEHP in clouding agents through persistent inspections and urged the department to consult more experts to confirm the health risks of the banned chemicals.
“The department’s handling of the issue has basically been right on the mark,” he said.
The Taipei Department of Health yesterday said it has launched a probe into a restaurant at Far Eastern Sogo Xinyi A13 Department Store after a customer died of suspected food poisoning. A preliminary investigation on Sunday found missing employee health status reports and unsanitary kitchen utensils at Polam Kopitiam (寶林茶室) in the department store’s basement food court, the department said. No direct relationship between the food poisoning death and the restaurant was established, as no food from the day of the incident was available for testing and no other customers had reported health complaints, it said, adding that the investigation is ongoing. Later
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