To mark World Consumer Rights Day, which this year is themed “antibiotics off the menu,” the Consumer Protection Committee yesterday said it would work with government agencies and the private sector to reduce the use of antibiotics in food by increasing inspections to provide safer food.
Committee Director-General Liu Chin-fang (劉清芳) said Consumers International called for fast food companies to make a global commitment to stop the sale of meat from animals raised using antibiotics important to human medicine.
About half the antibiotics produced worldwide are used in agriculture, with most used to promote growth and to prevent, rather than treat, disease, she said, adding that the WHO has warned that unless significant action is taken to change how antibiotics are used, infections and minor injuries could become fatal due to antibiotic resistance.
The committee said it invited MOS Burger, Burger King and hypermarket operators Pxmart, RT-Mart, A-Mart, Carrefour, Wellcome and Taiwan Sugar Corp to join the Consumers International campaign, which has already called on three international restaurant chains — McDonald’s, Subway and Kentucky Fried Chicken — to stop serving meat from animals routinely given antibiotics used in human medicine.
Liu said the committee would collaborate with the Ministry of Health and Welfare and the Council of Agriculture to increase inspections for antibiotic residue in meat products.
“Since 2000, 34 types of antibiotics have been eliminated,” Council Bureau of Animal and Plant Health Inspection and Quarantine division chief Hsieh Tsung-fa (謝宗發) said, adding that there are only 11 types of antibiotics allowed to be used on livestock, with two more types to be banned in July.
Using antibiotics to stimulate growth of livestock is forbidden in Taiwan, he said, adding that people who illegally use antibiotics on livestock could face a fine of between NT$30,000 and NT$150,000 (US$911 and US$4,557), while using banned antibiotics could result in fines of between NT$60,000 and NT$300,000.
The use of antibiotics to prevent disease should strictly follow regulations, Hsieh added.
The average qualification rate of nationwide inspections for antibiotic residue in meat products was greater than 90 percent, ministry official Kao Yi-ting (高怡婷) said, but added that those who fail inspections could face fines of between NT$60,000 and NT$200 million.
To ensure food safety, the committee urged consumers to purchase meat products that have been certified, have a good reputation or production of which is traceable.
A group of Taiwanese-American and Tibetan-American students at Harvard University on Saturday disrupted Chinese Ambassador to the US Xie Feng’s (謝鋒) speech at the school, accusing him of being responsible for numerous human rights violations. Four students — two Taiwanese Americans and two from Tibet — held up banners inside a conference hall where Xie was delivering a speech at the opening ceremony of the Harvard Kennedy School China Conference 2024. In a video clip provided by the Coalition of Students Resisting the CCP (Chinese Communist Party), Taiwanese-American Cosette Wu (吳亭樺) and Tibetan-American Tsering Yangchen are seen holding banners that together read:
UNAWARE: Many people sit for long hours every day and eat unhealthy foods, putting them at greater risk of developing one of the ‘three highs,’ an expert said More than 30 percent of adults aged 40 or older who underwent a government-funded health exam were unaware they had at least one of the “three highs” — high blood pressure, high blood lipids or high blood sugar, the Health Promotion Administration (HPA) said yesterday. Among adults aged 40 or older who said they did not have any of the “three highs” before taking the health exam, more than 30 percent were found to have at least one of them, Adult Preventive Health Examination Service data from 2022 showed. People with long-term medical conditions such as hypertension or diabetes usually do not
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Heat advisories were in effect for nine administrative regions yesterday afternoon as warm southwesterly winds pushed temperatures above 38°C in parts of southern Taiwan, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. As of 3:30pm yesterday, Tainan’s Yujing District (玉井) had recorded the day’s highest temperature of 39.7°C, though the measurement will not be included in Taiwan’s official heat records since Yujing is an automatic rather than manually operated weather station, the CWA said. Highs recorded in other areas were 38.7°C in Kaohsiung’s Neimen District (內門), 38.2°C in Chiayi City and 38.1°C in Pingtung’s Sandimen Township (三地門), CWA data showed. The spell of scorching