Wed, Jun 08, 2011 page8

• The Liberity Times Editorial: Food scare presents test for public

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  Following the revelation that prohibited chemicals were being used in food additives, a food scare has been snowballing day after day. More than 100 types of food and beverages in five broad categories have been found to contain the substance di(2-ethylhexyl) phthalate, or DEHP. The revelation has caused public anxiety and panic.

  This homegrown food crisis is a replay of the Chinese melamine milk powder scandal three years ago. The anxiety has spread overseas as some tainted foods have been exported, damaging the nation’s image abroad.

  The way the crisis started is hard to believe. Although the government listed DEHP as a banned substance in food products 10 years ago, the authorities apparently were only concerned about it being used in food containers. They were not aware that it could be used as a clouding agent in food, so DEHP was not listed as an item to be checked for in food safety tests.

  This oversight means that contaminated clouding agents might have been widely used for more than 20 years. Some food manufacturers were happy using DEHP as a clouding agent in place of palm oil because it is cheaper, more attractive to the eye and makes food last longer.

  This situation, outrageous as it is, was apparently well known in the food business, but government regulators either did not know about it or were not motivated to do anything about it. It is only thanks to the efforts of a single senior technician at the Department of Health that this illegal activity was exposed.

  Who knows how many dangerous substances the public has already ingested?

  The clouding agent scare is just the latest revelation about the dark side of the nation’s food industry.

  Three years ago, a Chinese-language slide presentation entitled “What you need to know about the modern food industry” laid bare the facts about tainted Taiwanese food.

  For example, meat has for many years been treated with sodium nitrite or sodium nitrate to make it look fresh and tasty. While some catering establishments put up signs saying they do not use monosodium glutamate, they often add sodium nitrite or nitrate instead. The additives make food look fresh, but they are also harmful.

  Similarly, fish and meat are often sprinkled with sodium sulfate. This chemical is also used to process dried foods such as lily buds and lotus seeds so that they can be kept for a long time without spoiling, but it can also cause health problems. Beverages such as fruit juice, papaya milk and pearl milk tea often have industrial-grade materials added as “flavoring,” and the banned chemicals that are currently in the news might be among them.

  Food is a daily necessity, so food safety and hygiene are basic requirements that must be ensured by the government. Yet harmful clouding agents have been ingested by the public for years without anybody doing anything about it. As food manufacturers with no conscience put profits before morals, incompetent officials have failed to deal with the problem.

  Attention is now focused on tainted products that are sold under brand names in convenience stores and supermarkets, but what about other types of food and beverages sold in traditional markets, where there is little effective management or regulation?

  The food scare has exposed a host of problems in the nation’s food safety and hygiene mechanisms. It shows that Taiwan is still a backward country where the dream of consuming food without worrying about its cleanliness and safety has yet to be realized.

  President Ma Ying-jeou’s (馬英九) administration will have to deal with this crisis in a responsible and appropriate manner by fixing the holes in the food safety management system. This is vital not only to make sure that the public can eat healthy food, but also to repair the harm done to the nation’s image.

  A strict system of inspection needs to be implemented, starting from the point of production and continuing through the supply chain — giving each food product its own pedigree.

  It is also important to make sure that industrialists who made tainted foods or supplied harmful additives with no regard for public health are punished. This must be done for the sake of justice and as a warning to others. Officials in both the central and local governments who have failed for years to find and stop the contaminated clouding agents should be identified and severely penalized, otherwise talk of “responsible government” would be meaningless.

  Amid this ongoing scare, some officials and businesspeople say food manufacturers that used harmful clouding agents are actually victims, but that argument does not hold water. These clouding agents have been in use for many years and people in the food business were surely well aware of it.

  Large food factories should have effective quality control. Their hygiene and safety inspections should be done properly, in accordance with public expectations. The present crisis shows that these businesses have not done their duty, so few would accept their claims of innocence.

  The widespread use of harmful food additives points to some fundamental problems in Taiwanese society. There are plenty of businesspeople who only care about profits and their short-term interests, and too many irresponsible bureaucrats who have long overlooked the existence of tainted foods. However, they are not the only ones to blame. Consumers who do not insist on clean and healthy food have made it easy for unscrupulous businesspeople and incompetent officials to get away with it all these years.

  The nation cannot allow this food scare to be forgotten as soon as the headlines turn to something else. Will it prompt the public to take action and push the nation toward a future where food is really safe to eat? This question is a litmus test that can tell if Taiwanese are ready to stand up and truly take control of the country’s governance and administration.

  TRANSLATED JULIAN CLEGG
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