More than 75 percent of major convenience stores, coffee shops and fast food chains continued to use polystyrene cup lids for hot drinks after the material was found to be non-resistant to high temperatures, Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Taipei City councilors said yesterday, urging Taipei City’s Department of Health to instruct local stores to stop using the lids.
Plastic cup lids made of polystyrene can withstand temperatures of up to 90°C.
The Department of Health (DOH) under the Executive Yuan said polystyrene should be used for non-acidic cold drinks or food, while for hot drinks, stores are advised to use containers made of polypropylene, which can withstand temperatures of up to 140°C and is resistant to acidic, alkaline or alcoholic beverages.
Both polystyrene and polypropylene are legal container materials under the Act Governing Food Sanitation (食品衛生管理法), and starting on July 21, business owners will be required to include information on the materials, maximum temperature and manufacture date of the containers on them. However, the act does not mandate the use of polypropylene for all hot drinks.
A random inspection by DPP Taipei City Councilor Wu Su-yao (吳思瑤) and Liang Wen-chieh (梁文傑) found that only four out of 16 convenience stores, coffee chain stores and fast food chains in Taipei used polypropylene cup lids for take-out coffee.
Three major convenience store chains, including FamilyMart, OKmart and Hi-Life, have replaced polystyrene lids with polypropylene lids, and 85°C Bakery Cafe chain also used polypropylene lids for hot drinks.
President Chain Store Corp, which operates the nation’s largest convenience store chain, 7-Eleven, major coffee chains including Starbucks and Mr Brown Coffee, and fast food chains including McDonalds, Mos Burger and KFC continued to use polystyrene cup lids for hot drinks, the inspection found.
“The temperature of a cup of hot coffee can reach 95°C, and using polystyrene lids for high-temperature food can cause users to ingest carcinogens. The stores that still use polystyrene lids are ignoring the health of consumers and before the department takes more actions to ban the use of the harmful material for hot drinks, the city government should do more to protect our residents,” Wu said.
Taipei Food and Drug Division Director Chen Li-chi (陳立奇) said the department has been communicating with 7-Eleven and other local stores on the use of polypropylene lids, and the department will continue to conduct regular inspections on stores citywide to promote the use of polypropylene lids until July.
“China is preparing to invade Taiwan,” Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Francois Wu (吳志中) said in an exclusive interview with British media channel Sky News for a special report titled, “Is Taiwan ready for a Chinese invasion?” the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said today in a statement. The 25-minute-long special report by Helen Ann-Smith released yesterday saw Sky News travel to Penghu, Taoyuan and Taipei to discuss the possibility of a Chinese invasion and how Taiwan is preparing for an attack. The film observed emergency response drills, interviewed baseball fans at the Taipei Dome on their views of US President
The Central Weather Administration (CWA) today issued a "tsunami watch" alert after a magnitude 8.7 earthquake struck off the Kamchatka Peninsula in northeastern Russia earlier in the morning. The quake struck off the east coast of the Kamchatka Peninsula at 7:25am (Taiwan time) at a depth of about 19km, the CWA said, citing figures from the Pacific Tsunami Warning Center. The CWA's Seismological Center said preliminary assessments indicate that a tsunami could reach Taiwan's coastal areas by 1:18pm today. The CWA urged residents along the coast to stay alert and take necessary precautions as waves as high as 1m could hit the southeastern
The National Museum of Taiwan Literature is next month to hold an exhibition in Osaka, Japan, showcasing the rich and unique history of Taiwanese folklore and literature. The exhibition, which is to run from Aug. 10 to Aug. 20 at the city’s Central Public Hall, is part of the “We Taiwan” at Expo 2025 series, highlighting Taiwan’s cultural ties with the international community, National Museum of Taiwan Literature director Chen Ying-fang (陳瑩芳) said. Folklore and literature, among Taiwan’s richest cultural heritages, naturally deserve a central place in the global dialogue, Chen said. Taiwan’s folklore would be immediately apparent at the entrance of the
ECONOMIC BENEFITS: The imports from Belize would replace those from Honduras, whose shrimp exports have dropped 67 percent since cutting ties in 2023 Maintaining ties with Taiwan has economic benefits, Ministry of Foreign Affairs officials said yesterday, citing the approval of frozen whiteleg shrimp imports from Belize by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) as an example. The FDA on Wednesday approved the tariff-free imports from Belize after the whiteleg shrimp passed the Systematic Inspection of Imported Food, which would continue to boost mutual trade, the ministry said. Taiwan’s annual consumption of whiteleg shrimps stands at 30,000 tonnes, far exceeding domestic production, the ministry said. Taiwan used to fill the gap by importing shrimps from Honduras, but purchases slumped after Tegucigalpa severed diplomatic ties with Taiwan
RSS