The Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) yesterday said the government’s “D-Day” sweep of tainted food products nationwide was a “failure” as reports point to the possibility that a much greater number of items than was found may also have been contaminated by harmful chemicals.
Citing information obtained by the party, DPP spokesperson Chen Chi-mai (陳其邁) said there was no reason why more than one month should have elapsed between the initial discovery of the tainted products and the crackdown on the chemical, which only started on Monday last week.
At the heart of the controversy is the chemical di(2-ethylhexyl) phthalate, or DEHP, which was found in clouding agents sold to food and beverage makers nationwide. The first positive test result by a government agency was made on April 7. The “D-Day” sweep did not start until Tuesday, 54 days later.
The slow response allowed the scare to “get out of hand,” leading to a failure to catch large numbers of cosmetics, food wrap and medicine that have been sold, potentially affecting tens of thousands of consumers, Chen said.
“Department of Health Minister Chiu Wen-ta (邱文達) should step down for delaying efforts to control the issue and for mismanaging policy,” Chen said, adding that initial government efforts were focused solely on food and beverages.
Environmental Protection Administration (EPA) Minister Stephen Shen (沈世宏) was another official the DPP said should resign.
Chen said Shen had previously dismissed the matter as “simply another food contamination.”
DPP lawmakers said the scare stemmed from a proposed amendment by then-premier Vincent Siew (蕭萬長) in 1999 to the Act Governing Food Sanitation (食品衛生管理法) that canceled testing for food additives.
The bill was passed by the legislature in January the following year and implemented one month afterwards, the DPP said.
Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Legislator Chiu Yi (邱毅) cited a public notice signed by then--Department of Health chief Lee Ming-liang (李明亮) on Sept. 28, 2000, as the main reason behind the current scare. The notice said that chemical companies would no longer be required to test food additives.
However, DPP Legislator Huang Sue-ying (黃淑英) said Lee’s notice was released in response to the passage of an amendment proposed by Siew, meaning that it did not initiate the change in policy.
In a statement, the DPP asked government agencies to redefine DEHP, which in significant quantities has been associated with stunted development of sex organs in males, hormone disruption and fertility problems as a category-one or -category-two poisonous substance.
DEHP is graded a category-four poisonous substance subject to government controls under law. The EPA has suggested it be recategorized as a category-two substance, which carries stricter regulations, by the end of the month.
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