The Ministry of Economic Affairs yesterday denied concealing the results of a research study on Antrodia camphorata — an edible species of fungi — after local media said the study found harmful side-effects in laboratory mice.
The ministry said it has already sent a report to the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) of the Department of Health last month regarding the results of the research.
The FDA yesterday said it has begun collecting related data and research results after receiving a complete report from the ministry’s Development Center for Biotechnology last month.
The FDA said the report showed the adrenal glands of female mice became swollen after ingesting large amounts of Antrodia camphorata during the trial. In addition, research results showed that consuming varying amounts of the fungus led to different effects in mice.
The FDA said it would ask experts to review the biotech center’s results and to provide a subsequent analysis.
“We will adopt any necessary regulatory measures if we discover any negative implications for human health resulting from the research report,” the FDA said in a statement.
The two agencies’ remarks came after the Chinese-language Apple Daily reported that laboratory mice became ill and their cells mutated after ingesting Antrodia cinnamomea powder during a 91-day trial.
The report said the ministry had spent NT$130 million (US$4.36 million) since 2010 on a project aimed at developing Antrodia camphorata products and the biotech center later commissioned a local biotech company to conduct the tests to examine the effectiveness of those products.
The newspaper said both the biotech center and the FDA already knew the results back in February last year, and accused them of trying to hide the facts from the public for more than a year.
Meanwhile, the ministry yesterday clarified that it spent NT$44.89 million on the project, not NT$130 million, and said the project was involved in developing new drugs for the treatment of cancer.
Separately, Grape King Inc (葡萄王), a local health food vendor known for its “Come Best” tonic drink and “Granoderma King” nutritional supplement, said yesterday its Antrodia camphorata products meet the government’s standards for product safety.
The company, whose shares fell by the daily limit to NT$105 yesterday on the local bourse, said consumers should not panic about the company’s products, which it said contain no poisonous substances.
RESILIENCE: Deepening bilateral cooperation would extend the peace sustained over the 45 years since the Taiwan Relations Act, Greene said Taiwan-US relations are built on deep economic ties and shared values, American Institute in Taiwan (AIT) Director Raymond Greene said yesterday, adding that strengthening supply chain security in critical industries, enhancing societal resilience through cooperation and deepening partnerships are key to ensuring peace and stability for Taiwan in the years ahead. Greene made the remarks at the National Security Youth Forum, organized by National Taiwan University’s National Security and Strategy Studies Institution in Taipei. In his address in Mandarin Chinese, Greene said the Taiwan-US relationship is built on deep economic ties and shared interests, and grows stronger through the enduring friendship between
GAINING STEAM: The scheme initially failed to gather much attention, with only 188 cards issued in its first year, but gained popularity amid the COVID-19 pandemic Applications for the Employment Gold Card have increased in the past few years, with the card having been issued to a total of 13,191 people from 101 countries since its introduction in 2018, the National Development Council (NDC) said yesterday. Those who have received the card have included celebrities, such as former NBA star Dwight Howard and Australian-South Korean cheerleader Dahye Lee, the NDC said. The four-in-one Employment Gold Card combines a work permit, resident visa, Alien Resident Certificate (ARC) and re-entry permit. It was first introduced in February 2018 through the Act Governing Recruitment and Employment of Foreign Professionals (外國專業人才延攬及雇用法),
The Ministry of Transportation and Communications yesterday said that it would redesign the written portion of the driver’s license exam to make it more rigorous. “We hope that the exam can assess drivers’ understanding of traffic rules, particularly those who take the driver’s license test for the first time. In the past, drivers only needed to cram a book of test questions to pass the written exam,” Minister of Transportation and Communications Chen Shih-kai (陳世凱) told a news conference at the Taoyuan Motor Vehicle Office. “In the future, they would not be able to pass the test unless they study traffic regulations
EUROPEAN TARGETS: The planned Munich center would support TSMC’s European customers to design high-performance, energy-efficient chips, an executive said Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電), the world’s largest contract chipmaker, yesterday said that it plans to launch a new research-and-development (R&D) center in Munich, Germany, next quarter to assist customers with chip design. TSMC Europe president Paul de Bot made the announcement during a technology symposium in Amsterdam on Tuesday, the chipmaker said. The new Munich center would be the firm’s first chip designing center in Europe, it said. The chipmaker has set up a major R&D center at its base of operations in Hsinchu and plans to create a new one in the US to provide services for major US customers,
RSS