The Taiwan Society for Risk Analysis yesterday called on regulators to prevent plasticizer chemicals from contaminating foods and beverages by keeping an updated database of the sources and uses of chemicals for more efficient management.
Since news broke more than two weeks ago that chemicals such as di(2-ethylhexyl) phthalate, or DEHP, and diisononyl phthalate, or DINP, had been discovered in foods and beverages, new reports of a wide range of plasticizer-contaminated products, from baked goods to sports drinks and cough syrup, have been appearing almost every day.
Experts in the field of risk -analysis and food science yesterday accused regulators of causing mass panic by letting new discoveries of contaminated products appear every day, lowering public confidence that the government has the situation under control.
Photo: Li Jung-ping, Taipei Times
Chan Chang-chuan (詹長權), society president and professor at National Taiwan University’s Institute of Occupational Medicine and Industrial Hygiene, said that one of the key reasons health authorities have not been able to quickly and effectively track down the sources of contamination is because the country has no comprehensive system for tracking potentially harmful chemicals.
Chan urged government regulators to learn from the EU’s -Registration, Evaluation, Authorization and Restriction of Chemical Substances (REACH) system, which has been in effect since 2007.
REACH was adopted to ensure that human health and the environment are protected from potentially harmful chemicals by transferring the responsibility for assessing and managing risks to industry. Under REACH, all manufacturers and importers of chemicals must identify and manage risks linked to the substances they manufacture and market.
The system requires that manufacturers and importers provide information on chemicals, which must be registered and contained in their labeling to ensure compliance with safety regulations and standards, while companies may not use “business confidentiality” as an excuse to bypass regulations, Chan said.
Wu Kuen-yuh (吳焜裕), society secretary-general and a professor at National Taiwan University’s Institute of Occupational Medicine and Industrial Hygiene, said: “If the government fails to manage the uses of chemicals from the source, then it is likely that in future breaches of food safety, we will once again be unable to effectively track down contaminated products.”
The experts urged the government to establish a comprehensive system for the registration of chemicals and foods to streamline the process of management and inspection in place of the current system, which causes a huge backlog of food products to be sent to laboratories for testing.
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