Are government-certified health products trustworthy? During a press conference last Monday, the John Tung Foundation and the Taiwan Dietitian Association said there were numerous loopholes in the Department of Health’s (DOH) health food control policies. They alleged that the standards for issuing certifications are too vague and liberal, and that this is causing consumers to ingest bellyfuls of artificial additives, while businesses obtain certification as a means to engage in unfair competition. Experts are stridently calling on the government to undertake a comprehensive investigation of the legislation, allowing the huge misnomer that has been confusing people so much — health product — to quickly become a term of the past.
Early this year, the John Tung Foundation tested 74 health products and discovered that 17 of them had suspicious ingredients and nutritional values. Most of them were found to have excessive amounts of artificial flavoring, coloring, spices, and other similar additives. The director of the foundation’s nutrition division, Hsu Hui-yu, says that the Health Food Control Act only considers the safety and health functions of a single or a few ingredients, neglecting overall nutritional value. This has allowed products the government labels as health products to actually have less nutritional value and more artificial additives than ordinary food products. If eaten in large quantities, these products can be pernicious to a person’s health.
Feng Jun-lan, deputy section chief at the DOH’s Food and Drug Administration, said the Health Food Control Act has been in effect for over a decade, and that only slightly more than 200 products have received certification, which is a relatively small number. Two years ago the DOH added regulations concerning the amount of sugar that can be added to health products to the conditions for certification, and has already undertaken measures regarding calorie intake. In facing the public’s demand to abolish certification, she expressed concern that it would not be a good thing if manufacturers could sell their products without having to run tests and pass examinations.
(LIBERTY TIMES, TRANSLATED BY KYLE JEFFCOAT)
Photo: Lu Chun-wei, Liberty Times
照片：自由時報記者鹿俊為
政府掛保證的健康食品，真的可信嗎？董氏基金會與中華民國營養師公會全聯會上週一召開記者會砲轟衛生署健康食品管理政策漏洞百出，認證發放標準籠統寬鬆，誤導消費者吃下一肚子人工添加物，業者也透過取得認證來惡性競爭，專家疾呼政府應通盤檢討法令，讓誤導民眾甚鉅的「健康食品」一詞，儘速走入歷史。
董氏基金會今年初抽查市售七十四項健康食品，發現有十七項在成份與營養價值上有疑慮，大多添加過多的人工調味劑、著色劑、香料等各式人工添加物。董氏基金會食品營養組主任許惠玉指出，健康食品管理法只考量單一或少數特定成份的安全性與保健功效，卻忽略整體營養，造成某些政府掛保證的「健康食品」，成份與營養價值不如一般食品，卻含有更多人工添加物，吃多了可能有害健康。
食管局食品組副組長馮潤蘭則指出，健康食品管理法上路十多年、總共核可的認證不過兩百多張，數量很少。至於糖份方面，衛生署自前年已納入健康食品認證的條件之一，也已進行熱量攝取宣導。面對民間要求取消認證，她則擔心，如果完全不管理，讓廠商不用做試驗、審核，就在外面販售，未必較好。
（自由時報記者王昶閔、洪素卿）
Photo: Lu Chun-wei, Liberty Times
照片：自由時報記者鹿俊為
A: Singer Jay Chou is staging four shows at the Taipei Dome starting today. B: And he’s the first singer to ever hold concerts at the venue. A: I’m curious, how big is this “big egg” exactly? B: It can accommodate nearly 40,000 people and bring various kinds of business opportunities. A: This is the new “concert economy” trend. A: 歌王周杰倫從今天起，將一連4天在大巨蛋開唱。 B: 哇，周董可是首位在大巨蛋舉辦演唱會的歌手耶！ A: 大巨蛋到底有多大啊？真好奇。 B: 每場可容納近4萬人，還能帶來各種商機呢。 A: 嗯，這就是現在最夯的「演唱會經濟」。 （By Eddy Chang, Taipei Times／台北時報張聖恩）
At 3:19am on a cold December morning in 1941, a father was jolted awake by violent shaking, loud crashes and the sound of breaking pottery and tiles. And then, a woman’s terrified scream. He instinctively reached for his wife beside him. She was not there. She must have gone to check on their youngest child in the east wing. He tried to stand but was thrown back down. The room shook even harder. Walls cracked open and ceiling beams groaned as pieces of the roof began to fall. Cold December air rushed in the room and fanned the fire
Have you ever wanted to go camping but were put off by the thought of setting up a tent, sleeping on hard ground and dealing with a lack of basic amenities? If so, glamping might be the perfect solution for you. Glamping, combining the words “glamorous” and “camping,” takes the outdoor experience to a whole new level. It offers the chance to enjoy nature while still having access to comfortable accommodation and modern conveniences. Instead of pitching a tent, you’ll stay in spacious, luxurious tents that are fully furnished and equipped with real beds, electricity and even en-suite facilities.
A: I’ve been a fan of singer Jay Chou for 24 years, since his debut in 2000. B: But this time, his Taipei Dome concerts have shed light on the issue of ticket scalping. A: Isn’t the law stricter after being amended last year? B: Yeah, ticket scalping is illegal, even if you only raise the price by NT$1 when reselling. A: Why aren’t scalpers afraid of getting caught? Maybe a real-name ticketing system would be better. A: 自從周杰倫2000年出道以來，我都已經追星24年了。 B: 不過這次大巨蛋開唱，他卻引爆黃牛票問題。 A: 去年修法後，法規不是變得比較嚴格？ B: 是啊，就算加價1元轉賣也算違法！ A: 黃牛們怎麼都抓不怕？或許票券「實名制」會更有用。 （By Eddy Chang, Taipei Times／台北時報張聖恩）
RSS