People who have trouble falling asleep should start paying more attention to what they drink because the Department of Health (DOH) is going to raise the maximum amount of caffeine allowed in canned drinks from 200 parts per million (ppm) to 320ppm.
The new rule takes effect in December. Hsiao Tung-ming (
However, the ingredients lists on canned drinks containing more than 200ppm of caffeine will have to specify the exact amount contained.
Canned drinks with less than 200ppm of caffeine, however, will not have to list the exact amount.
The policy shift came just days after the issue of caffinated canned drinks was spotlighted at a press conference held by Taipei City Councilor Li Keng Kuei-fang (厲耿桂芳) of the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) and the Consumers' Foundation on Monday. Li and the foundation criticized the department for not doing enough to monitor the caffeine content of canned drinks and demanded it take steps to remedy the situation immediately.
Li said that of the 15 kinds of canned coffee examined by the foundation, nine contained excessive amounts of caffeine. Most of the cans did not indicate how much caffeine was in the drink.
The department's announcement yesterday was condemned by Hsu Hui-yu (許惠玉), the nutrition section chief at the John Tung Foundation, who said that decisionmakers were not thinking clearly.
"How could they ignore the public's health, and relax the limits?" Hsu said.
He warned that children might be put at risk, since soft-drink manufacturers will be able to boost the amount of caffeine in their canned drinks in December.
Tropical Storm Nari is not a threat to Taiwan, based on its positioning and trajectory, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said yesterday. Nari has strengthened from a tropical depression that was positioned south of Japan, it said. The eye of the storm is about 2,100km east of Taipei, with a north-northeast trajectory moving toward the eastern seaboard of Japan, CWA data showed. Based on its current path, the storm would not affect Taiwan, the agency said.
The Taipei Department of Health’s latest inspection of fresh fruit and vegetables sold in local markets revealed a 25 percent failure rate, with most contraventions involving excessive pesticide residues, while two durians were also found to contain heavy metal cadmium at levels exceeding safety limits. Health Food and Drug Division Director Lin Kuan-chen (林冠蓁) yesterday said the agency routinely conducts inspections of fresh produce sold at traditional markets, supermarkets, hypermarkets, retail outlets and restaurants, testing for pesticide residues and other harmful substances. In its most recent inspection, conducted in May, the department randomly collected 52 samples from various locations, with testing showing
Taipei and other northern cities are to host air-raid drills from 1:30pm to 2pm tomorrow as part of urban resilience drills held alongside the Han Kuang exercises, Taiwan’s largest annual military exercises. Taipei, New Taipei City, Keelung, Taoyuan, Yilan County, Hsinchu City and Hsinchu County are to hold the annual Wanan air defense exercise tomorrow, following similar drills held in central and southern Taiwan yesterday and today respectively. The Taipei Mass Rapid Transit (MRT) and Maokong Gondola are to run as usual, although stations and passenger parking lots would have an “entry only, no exit” policy once air raid sirens sound, Taipei
The government should improve children’s outdoor spaces and accelerate carbon reduction programs, as the risk of heat-related injury due to high summer temperatures rises each year, Greenpeace told a news conference yesterday. Greenpeace examined summer temperatures in Taipei, New Taipei City, Taoyuan, Hsinchu City, Taichung, Tainan and Kaohsiung to determine the effects of high temperatures and climate change on children’s outdoor activities, citing data garnered by China Medical University, which defines a wet-bulb globe temperature (WBGT) of 29°C or higher as posing the risk of heat-related injury. According to the Central Weather Administration, WBGT, commonly referred to as the heat index, estimates
RSS