As much as 95 percent of the public cannot tell fresh food from spoiled food, Taipei Medical University Hospital (TMUH) said yesterday, adding that to avoid tossing out good food or getting food poisoning from bad food, people should not hoard food in their refrigerators.
Chief nutritionist at TMUH Su Hsiu-yueh (蘇秀悅) told a press conference that “2.6 million people in this country have suffered from diarrhea in the past year, so it is very important that Taiwanese know how to keep their food fresh.”
“Many people mistakenly think that putting food in the fridge stops germs from multiplying, when in fact the low temperature only slows down germ proliferation,” Su said.
Improper storage also increases the rate of spoilage in refrigerated food, Su said.
“Sixty percent of people shove their food into the fridge directly in its original packaging, which leads to cross-contamination,” Su said, citing a survey the hospital conducted with 636 respondents.
“To keep food fresh ... keep it in air-tight containers,” she said.
Most people aren’t sure when the foods in their fridge go bad, Su said.
“Seventy-five percent of people rely on visual examination to tell if food is okay to eat, while another 18 percent decide whether food is spoiled by the smell. In reality, most foods don’t keep more than a week in the fridge,” Su said.
Cooked foods and fresh seafood can only be kept for two days, poultry and fruits can last three, and pork, beef and juices can stay fresh for up to six days, Su said.
Su said that buying food in smaller quantities would help reduce unnecessary waste, as 92 percent of survey respondents reported tossing out food.
Each family throws out an average of NT$66 of food per week, which adds up to NT$25.8 billion per year nationwide, Su said.
“Most people throw out these foods to avoid health hazards. But if it were eaten while still fresh, the amount of food thrown away could provide lunches for 223,000 elementary school students for 20 years,” she said.
‘DENIAL DEFENSE’: The US would increase its military presence with uncrewed ships, and submarines, while boosting defense in the Indo-Pacific, a Pete Hegseth memo said The US is reorienting its military strategy to focus primarily on deterring a potential Chinese invasion of Taiwan, a memo signed by US Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth showed. The memo also called on Taiwan to increase its defense spending. The document, known as the “Interim National Defense Strategic Guidance,” was distributed this month and detailed the national defense plans of US President Donald Trump’s administration, an article in the Washington Post said on Saturday. It outlines how the US can prepare for a potential war with China and defend itself from threats in the “near abroad,” including Greenland and the Panama
The High Prosecutors’ Office yesterday withdrew an appeal against the acquittal of a former bank manager 22 years after his death, marking Taiwan’s first instance of prosecutors rendering posthumous justice to a wrongfully convicted defendant. Chu Ching-en (諸慶恩) — formerly a manager at the Taipei branch of BNP Paribas — was in 1999 accused by Weng Mao-chung (翁茂鍾), then-president of Chia Her Industrial Co, of forging a request for a fixed deposit of US$10 million by I-Hwa Industrial Co, a subsidiary of Chia Her, which was used as collateral. Chu was ruled not guilty in the first trial, but was found guilty
A wild live dugong was found in Taiwan for the first time in 88 years, after it was accidentally caught by a fisher’s net on Tuesday in Yilan County’s Fenniaolin (粉鳥林). This is the first sighting of the species in Taiwan since 1937, having already been considered “extinct” in the country and considered as “vulnerable” by the International Union for Conservation of Nature. A fisher surnamed Chen (陳) went to Fenniaolin to collect the fish in his netting, but instead caught a 3m long, 500kg dugong. The fisher released the animal back into the wild, not realizing it was an endangered species at
DEADLOCK: As the commission is unable to forum a quorum to review license renewal applications, the channel operators are not at fault and can air past their license date The National Communications Commission (NCC) yesterday said that the Public Television Service (PTS) and 36 other television and radio broadcasters could continue airing, despite the commission’s inability to meet a quorum to review their license renewal applications. The licenses of PTS and the other channels are set to expire between this month and June. The National Communications Commission Organization Act (國家通訊傳播委員會組織法) stipulates that the commission must meet the mandated quorum of four to hold a valid meeting. The seven-member commission currently has only three commissioners. “We have informed the channel operators of the progress we have made in reviewing their license renewal applications, and
RSS