Ensuring food safety requires more than just recalling tainted products, the Consumers’ Foundation said yesterday, calling for more thorough compensation mechanisms following a recent string of food-related scandals.
In one such scandal, I-Mei Food Co was found to be using expired raw materials to produce cream puffs. The company promptly apologized and said consumers who had purchased the products could request a complete refund.
However, the foundation said that refunds fail to properly compensate those who have already consumed the products.
Issuing a mea culpa without saying how many packages have been recalled and how many might still be on the market is not enough, it said. The foundation added that offers to donate money to consumer advocacy groups — as I-Mei recently suggested doing — could be seen as a kind of “hush money” if other consumer compensation measures are not put in place.
Instead, consumers should be compensated with funds raised by forcing business that have broken the law to relinquish the profits they have made from their contaminated items, the group said, an idea it first proposed after China’s melamine-laced milk scandal in 2008. However, the idea has received little support from the government.
Raising penalties to NT$6 million (US$200,000) or NT$10 million would not eliminate food safety transgressions because companies can earn tens of millions selling the tainted products and “it’s hard to chase down the main person in charge or to close down the factories,” foundation chief financial officer Terry Huang (黃怡騰) said.
“Problematic factories can also declare bankruptcy and re-open under a different name,” he said.
The foundation urged the government to push for legislation to hold offenders accountable by demanding they return all earnings made from tainted products. It also called on food businesses to establish compensation mechanisms.
In related news, the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) caucus yesterday said the government should play a more active role in addressing the public’s fears over food safety.
After a wide variety of starch products were found to be contaminated with maleic acid on May 13, the Department of Health launched a food safety program and inspections of every starch manufacturer and distributor nationwide. However, food vendors have had a hard time providing the certificates proving that their products are not tainted, DPP Legislator Yeh Yi-jin (葉宜津) told a press conference.
The caucus urged the government to set up a monitoring mechanism for food material manufacturers, wholesalers and retailers; a registration system for food additives; a mechanism to monitor imports; and a regulation to freeze the assets of manufacturers who provide illegal food additives and use the money to compensate consumers, Yeh said.
The starch scandal shows President Ma Ying-jeou’s (馬英九) administration has not learned from China’s mistakes, DPP Legislator Chiu Chih-wei (邱志偉) said, adding that Department of Health Minister Chiu Wen-ta (邱文達) should be held accountable for the tainted food.
The first two F-16V Bock 70 jets purchased from the US are expected to arrive in Taiwan around Double Ten National Day, which is on Oct. 10, a military source said yesterday. Of the 66 F-16V Block 70 jets purchased from the US, the first completed production in March, the source said, adding that since then three jets have been produced per month. Although there were reports of engine defects, the issue has been resolved, they said. After the jets arrive in Taiwan, they must first pass testing by the air force before they would officially become Taiwan’s property, they said. The air force
GLOBAL: Although Matsu has limited capacity for large numbers of domestic tourists, it would be a great high-end destination for international travelers, an official said Lienchiang County’s (Matsu) unique landscape and Cold War history give it great potential to be marketed as a destination for international travelers, Tourism Administration Director General Chen Yu-hsiu (陳玉秀) said at the weekend. Tourism officials traveled to the outlying island for the Matsu Biennial, an art festival that started on Friday to celebrate Matsu’s culture, history and landscape. Travelers to Matsu, which lies about 190km northwest of Taipei, must fly or take the state-run New Taima passenger ship. However, flights are often canceled during fog season from April to June. Chen spoke about her vision to promote Matsu as a tourist attraction in
PAWSITIVE IMPACT: A shop owner said that while he adopted cats to take care of rodents, they have also attracted younger visitors who also buy his dried goods In Taipei’s Dadaocheng (大稻埕), cats lounging in shops along Dihua Street do more than nap amid the scent of dried seafood. Many have become beloved fixtures who double as photography models, attracting visitors and helping boost sales in one of the capital’s most historic quarters. A recent photo contest featuring more than a dozen shop cats drew more than 2,200 submissions, turning everyday cat-spotting into a friendly competition that attracted amateur and professional photographers. “It’s rare to see cats standing, so when it suddenly did, it felt like a lucky cat,” said Sabrina Hsu (徐淳蔚), who won the NT$10,000 top prize in
STRIKE: Some travel agencies in Taiwan said that they were aware of the situation in South Korea, and that group tours to the country were proceeding as planned A planned strike by airport personnel in South Korea has not affected group tours to the country from Taiwan, travel agencies said yesterday. They added that they were closely monitoring the situation. Personnel at 15 airports, including Seoul’s Incheon and Gimpo airports, are to go on strike. They announced at a news conference on Tuesday that the strike would begin on Friday next week and continue until the Mid-Autumn Festival next month. Some travel agencies in Taiwan, including Cola Tour, Lion Travel, SET Tour and ezTravel, said that they were aware of the situation in South Korea, and that group
RSS