The Consumers’ Foundation yesterday made three demands of the government amid allegations that a slaughterhouse in New Taipei City has been selling waterlogged beef to local restaurants.
“The government should clarify whether waterlogged meat poses a threat to human health, conduct a nationwide inspection of beef and pork products, and ascertain whether the water-pumped beef also contains other additives,” Consumers’ Foundation secretary-general Lei Li-fen (雷立芬) said.
The Chinese-language Apple Daily yesterday reported that the Fubo Slaughter House (福伯屠宰場) in New Taipei City’s Taishan District (泰山) — the nation’s second-largest cattle butchery — has been pumping water into cow carcasses in an attempt to increase their weight.
The newspaper also claimed that Fubo has been selling the meat to food vendors and restaurants in Taipei, New Taipei City, Keelung and Taoyuan through two meat wholesalers, Shang Hao (上豪) and Shun Fa (順發).
“The government has not clarified to the public whether pumping up beef with water will affect its quality and whether its consumption is harmful to human health,” Lei said.
If the government fails to act quickly, the report might cause unnecessary panic among consumers, Lei added.
As there have also been rumors that some pig slaughterhouses have resorted to the same illegal practices to increase their profits, Lei said, the government should inspect other meats to assuage public fears.
The government has taken a passive approach in food safety and only takes action when a food scare breaks out, Lei said.
Separately yesterday, the New Taipei City Government’s Public Health Department Commissioner Lin Sheue-rong (林雪蓉) dismissed concerns that the allegedly waterlogged beef could have been used to make school lunches.
“We have checked with school meal providers in the city and they are very certain that the meat in question has never been used in school lunches,” Lin said during a question-and-answer session at the New Taipei City Council.
New Taipei City Mayor Eric Chu (朱立倫) said that given each student has a different family background, beef is generally excluded from school meals.
In an effort to safeguard consumer’s interests, the Taipei City Market Administration Office yesterday mandated source-of-origin labeling for locally raised beef.
The office said there were a total of 308 vendors selling raw or cooked beef in the city’s traditional and underground markets, 110 of which used locally raised meat.
“These vendors are required to put up documents indicating the sources of origin of the meat they use in front of their stalls and report to authorities if they discover that their wholesalers are peddling problematic meat products,” the administration office said.
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