Nearly 90 percent of rice vermicelli noodles are not primarily composed of their main ingredient, rice, but are instead a mix of other edible starches, the Consumers’ Foundation said yesterday.
According to the Chinese National Standard (CNS) No. 11172, there are two types of rice vermicelli: one are pure vermicelli, which are made of from rice and more than 5 percent crude protein, and the other is mixed rice vermicelli, which are more than 50 percent rice, mixed with flour or other edible starches and have more than 2.5 percent crude protein.
The foundation said a test on 52 types of rice vermicelli conducted by Internet agricultural news platform News & Market from Dec. 29 last year to Jan. 14 this year showed that 45 of the products tested (about 86.5 percent) were comprised of less than 50 percent rice, while 39 products (75 percent) were less than 20 percent rice.
Photo: Hsieh Wen-hua, Taipei Times
Citing the survey, the foundation said that LongKow noodles, a famous brand from Hsinchu, were made up of between 7 percent and 10 percent rice, despite the claim on the packages that they are 90 percent rice.
Three types of noodles from Hsinchu-based Nung-Keng claimed to meet the CNS11172 standard on their packages, but results showed that the noodles were less than 10 percent rice and contained crude protein of between 0.3 percent and 0.5 percent, it said.
Foundation chairman Mark Chang (張智剛) said that the products that do not meet the required standards should be recalled and their manufacturers fined for false labeling.
The Food and Drug Administration said companies should give accurate information about their products, as stipulated by the Act Governing Food Sanitation (食品衛生管理法), and that it would investigate the noodles sold in stores for false labeling.
The Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) today condemned the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) after the Czech officials confirmed that Chinese agents had surveilled Vice President Hsiao Bi-khim (蕭美琴) during her visit to Prague in March last year. Czech Military Intelligence director Petr Bartovsky yesterday said that Chinese operatives had attempted to create the conditions to carry out a demonstrative incident involving Hsiao, going as far as to plan a collision with her car. Hsiao was vice president-elect at the time. The MAC said that it has requested an explanation and demanded a public apology from Beijing. The CCP has repeatedly ignored the desires
Many Chinese spouses required to submit proof of having renounced their Chinese household registration have either completed the process or provided affidavits ahead of the June 30 deadline, the Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) said on Thursday. Of the 12,146 people required to submit the proof, 5,534 had done so as of Wednesday, MAC deputy head and spokesperson Liang Wen-chieh (梁文傑) said. Another 2,572 people who met conditions for exemption or deferral from submitting proof of deregistration — such as those with serious illnesses or injuries — have submitted affidavits instead, he said. “As long as individuals are willing to cooperate with the legal
The Ma-anshan Nuclear Power Plant’s license has expired and it cannot simply be restarted, the Executive Yuan said today, ahead of national debates on the nuclear power referendum. The No. 2 reactor at the Ma-anshan Nuclear Power Plant in Pingtung County was disconnected from the nation’s power grid and completely shut down on May 17, the day its license expired. The government would prioritize people’s safety and conduct necessary evaluations and checks if there is a need to extend the service life of the reactor, Executive Yuan spokeswoman Michelle Lee (李慧芝) told a news conference. Lee said that the referendum would read: “Do
The Ministry of Environment yesterday held a seminar in Taipei for experts from Taiwan and Japan to exchange their experiences on the designs and development of public toilets. Japan Toilet Association chairman Kohei Yamamoto said that he was impressed with the eco-toilet set up at Daan Forest Park, adding that Japan still faces issues regarding public restrooms despite the progress it made over the past decades. For example, an all-gender toilet was set up in Kabukicho in Tokyo’s Shinjuku District several years ago, but it caused a public backlash and was rebuilt into traditional men’s and women’s toilets, he said. Japan Toilet Association
RSS