The first set of guidelines for the use of additives containing aluminum in food products, such as deep-fried dough sticks (youtiao, 油條) and other pastries, is to be enforced as early as March, according to the Food and Drug Administration (FDA).
The agency said it would amend the Standards for Specification, Scope, Application and Limitation of Food Additives (食品添加物使用範圍及限量暨規格標準) to include guidelines for the use of additives containing aluminum in food, and a 60-day evaluation period began when the administration announced it would be collecting opinions and suggestions.
Administration section chief Kao Yi-ting (高怡婷) said the amendment would set tolerable intake levels for nine types of food additives containing aluminum used in processed seafood, pickled vegetables, deep fried foods, pastries and other food products, in a bid to reduce the amount of aluminum consumed by the public.
Food additives containing aluminum are often used as stabilizers for food processing and firming and raising agents. Food products that contain high levels of aluminum include deep-fried dough sticks, steamed cakes, muffins, waffles, pancakes and dried, shredded jellyfish.
The UN’s Codex General Standard for Food Additives and the EU have both amended the tolerable weekly intake level of aluminum from 7mg/kg of body weight to 2mg/kg, Kao said, adding that the government would follow this standard.
For example, under the new guidelines, the residue level of aluminum potassium sulfate cannot exceed 500 parts per million (ppm) per kilogram of dried shredded jellyfish or kelp, and no more than 300ppm for deep-fried dough sticks, Kao said.
Studies have suggested that excessive consumption of aluminum might increase the likelihood of developing Alzheimer’s disease, Kao said, adding that high levels of aluminum have been detected in children with kidney disease.
The administration is to continue to monitor the use of additives in food production, Kao said, adding that companies found to have violated legal standards can face fines of between NT$30,000 and NT$3 million (US$887 and US$88,705).
The agency also said it would move forward the enforcement of a ban on three types of estrogen hormones in cosmetic products to May 1.
In November last year, the agency said it would impose a ban on the use of estradiol, estrone and ethinyl estradiol in cosmetic products starting in July.
When lawmakers questioned the schedule for enforcement of the policy, Minister of Health and Welfare Chiang Been-huang (蔣丙煌) said the agency would evaluate the possibility of moving up the commencement date.
The administration on Sunday released a statement saying that the import, manufacture and sale of cosmetic products containing the three types of estrogen would be banned, adding that companies that hold permits to produce such products should proactively register with the agency changes to ingredients or face cancelation of their permit.
Chu Yu-ju (朱玉如), the administration section chief in charge of medical equipment and cosmetics, said the agency would collect opinions and suggestions over the next two weeks before the policy becomes official.
Products containing the three types of estrogen that have already been imported, produced or displayed on store shelves can continue to be sold until May 1, but after that period all of the products must be recalled, and anyone found breaching the ban faces a sentence of up to one year in prison or a fine of up to NT$150,000, as stipulated by the Code of Cosmetic Hygiene Management (化妝品衛生管理條例), she said.
THE HAWAII FACTOR: While a 1965 opinion said an attack on Hawaii would not trigger Article 5, the text of the treaty suggests the state is covered, the report says NATO could be drawn into a conflict in the Taiwan Strait if Chinese forces attacked the US mainland or Hawaii, a NATO Defense College report published on Monday says. The report, written by James Lee, an assistant research fellow at Academia Sinica’s Institute of European and American Studies, states that under certain conditions a Taiwan contingency could trigger Article 5 of NATO, under which an attack against any member of the alliance is considered an attack against all members, necessitating a response. Article 6 of the North Atlantic Treaty specifies that an armed attack in the territory of any member in Europe,
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