The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) last week announced that it plans to classify five types of food ingredients as food allergens, which would need to be declared on packaged food labels starting in 2019.
The Regulations on Food Allergens Labeling (食品過敏原標示規定) implemented on July 1, 2015, show six types of common food allergens — shrimp, crabs, mangos, peanuts, milk, eggs and egg products — that must be declared on packaged food labels with a precautionary message.
It is to amend the regulation, adding five types of food allergens to the regulatory list and also modifying the existing six types, the agency said.
The FDA is allowing 60 days for public comment on the proposed amendment, it said.
The newly drafted regulation shows 11 types of allergens: crustaceans, mangos, peanuts, sesame and sunflower seeds, cow or goat milk, and nuts (including almonds, hazelnuts, walnuts, cashews, pecans, Brazil nuts, pistachios, macadamia nuts, pine nuts and chestnuts), the agency said.
The list also comprises grains containing gluten (including wheat, barley, rye and oats), soy beans, sulfites and sulfur dioxide residues above 10 parts per million (ppb), and fish (including salmon, mackerel, cod, Patagonian toothfish and halibut), it said.
The allergens were decided upon after having discussions with specialists and referring to regulations in other nations, FDA Food Safety Division Director Lee Wan-chen (李婉媜) said, adding that the changes aim to protect consumers from major food allergens.
The amended regulation will go into effect on July 1, 2019, and prepackaged food products that fail to declare the 11 types of allergens on food labels would face a fine of up to NT$4 million (US$133,368), she said.
People who are allergic to certain food ingredients should ensure that they read food labels carefully before purchasing food products, the agency said.
Taiwan would benefit from more integrated military strategies and deployments if the US and its allies treat the East China Sea, the Taiwan Strait and the South China Sea as a “single theater of operations,” a Taiwanese military expert said yesterday. Shen Ming-shih (沈明室), a researcher at the Institute for National Defense and Security Research, said he made the assessment after two Japanese military experts warned of emerging threats from China based on a drill conducted this month by the Chinese People’s Liberation Army’s (PLA) Eastern Theater Command. Japan Institute for National Fundamentals researcher Maki Nakagawa said the drill differed from the
‘WORSE THAN COMMUNISTS’: President William Lai has cracked down on his political enemies and has attempted to exterminate all opposition forces, the chairman said The legislature would motion for a presidential recall after May 20, Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Chairman Eric Chu (朱立倫) said yesterday at a protest themed “against green communists and dictatorship” in Taipei. Taiwan is supposed to be a peaceful homeland where people are united, but President William Lai (賴清德) has been polarizing and tearing apart society since his inauguration, Chu said. Lai must show his commitment to his job, otherwise a referendum could be initiated to recall him, he said. Democracy means the rule of the people, not the rule of the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP), but Lai has failed to fulfill his
A rally held by opposition parties yesterday demonstrates that Taiwan is a democratic country, President William Lai (賴清德) said yesterday, adding that if opposition parties really want to fight dictatorship, they should fight it on Tiananmen Square in Beijing. The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) held a protest with the theme “against green communists and dictatorship,” and was joined by the Taiwan People’s Party. Lai said the opposition parties are against what they called the “green communists,” but do not fight against the “Chinese communists,” adding that if they really want to fight dictatorship, they should go to the right place and face
A 79-year-old woman died today after being struck by a train at a level crossing in Taoyuan, police said. The woman, identified by her surname Wang (王), crossed the tracks even though the barriers were down in Jhongli District’s (中壢) Neili (內壢) area, the Taoyuan Branch of the Railway Police Bureau said. Surveillance footage showed that the railway barriers were lowered when Wang entered the crossing, but why she ventured onto the track remains under investigation, the police said. Police said they received a report of an incident at 6:41am involving local train No. 2133 that was heading from Keelung to Chiayi City. Investigators
RSS