I-Mei Foods Co (義美食品) was confirmed yesterday as the source of test results that suggest some local hog farmers have been illegally using banned leanness-enhancing agents, an incident that has sparked speculation the results were deliberately released to reduce the opposition of pig farmers to US beef imports containing other feed additives.
Who leaked the test results remains unclear.
The tests dated March 7 were conducted by I-Mei’s food safety laboratory, which found that seven out of 10 local pork-related products contained traces of salbutamol and cimaterol, which Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Legislator Alex Tsai (蔡正元) said was more hazardous than the ractopamine given to US cows.
Premier Sean Chen (陳冲), when questioned by Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Legislator Tsai Chi-chang (蔡其昌) at the legislative question-and-answer session yesterday, confirmed that the products were sent for testing by I-Mei president Kao Chih-ming (高志明).
The results were released by Alex Tsai (蔡正元) on Tuesday. In response, certain media outlets and the DPP said that the results were part of a plan by either the US or the government to discredit local pig farmers and undermine opposition to the partial lifting of the ban on US beef
Tsai Chi-chang yesterday asked Chen “who was behind the plot and how Alex Tsai had obtained a copy of the test results.”
Chen said Kao had ordered the tests, but he did not know who leaked the result to Alex Tsai.
Chen said that on March 7, Kao sent a copy of the result to the Presidential Office, along with a letter in which he expressed concern about the safety of the nation’s food and the failure of the food safety inspection system. The documents were sent by the Presidential Office to the Executive Yuan on March 9, Chen added.I-Mei
The test conducted by I-Mei’s food safety laboratory found traces of salbutamol and cimaterol in two sausage products from T-Ham (台畜) and Hsin Tung Yang (新東陽), and pork belly, ground pork and some other products sold at Wellcome supermarkets (頂好超市) were found to contain salbutamol residues. Both T-Ham and Hsin Tung Yang rejected the lab’s findings.
Following the release of the results of tests conducted by I-Mei, items from the same batches of products were sent to a government certified laboratory for testing, but none were found to have contained illegal additive residues, the Council of Agriculture said yesterday.
Asked about the divergent results, Chen said he was confident in the results produced by the government-certified laboratory.
Meanwhile, Kao issued a statement saying that he had no ulterior motives in providing the test results and a letter to President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) other than to urge him to address flaws in the government’s food safety and inspection system.
Kao added that he would like to sincerely apologize to consumers, restaurant owners, franchise operators, and pig farmers for the public outcry and misunderstanding caused by his actions.
In response to the discrepancy in the tests conducted by I-Mei and the government, Kao said the I-Mei food safety laboratory had a detection limit of 0.2 ppb (parts per billion).
He added that the company did not publicize the test results because they are used as reference material for laboratory quality management.
KMT Legislator Lo Shu-lei (羅淑蕾) yesterday said the test results made public by Alex Tsai were provided by a businessman nicknamed “Peter” who “has no political affiliation and cares very much about food safety.”
“Peter” previously provided the government with test results on methyl alcohol, prompting it to address the problem of rice wine prices, Lo said.
She denied there was any conspiracy behind the release of the results and or that the Presidential Office played a role in the matter.
Alex Tsai yesterday declined to reveal his source, saying he did not know the “Peter” Lo referred to.
He said the person who gave him the test results is a professional consultant in his 50s and is not an employee of I-Mei.
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