Thu, Dec 03, 2015 page3

• I-Mei Foods boss urges uniform standards

  • By Hsieh Chia-chun and Jonathan Chin / Staff reporter, with staff writer
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  Food safety is not a matter of simply performing laboratory tests and doling out legal sanctions, I-Mei Foods Co (義美食品) general manager Kao Chih-ming (高志明) said yesterday.

  “If lab testing is the only thing people can rely on to ensure that our food is edible, this is a great tragedy for our species and a sign that we are not long for this world. We must insist on doing the right thing and staying on the right path,” Kao said on the sidelines of an event to promote his new book, entitled How To Stay Away From Polluted Fruits and Vegetables.

  Kao’s remarks come following the Nov. 27 decision of the Changhua District Court to acquit former Ting Hsin International Group (頂新集團) executive Wei Ying-chun (魏應充) of charges related to a tainted cooking oil case.

  

  I-Mei Foods Co general manager Kao Chih-ming holds copies of his book at a promotional event held in Taipei yesterday.

  Photo: Hsieh Chia-chun, Taipei Times

  The verdict is controversial and has been condemned by many commentators.

  Kao — whose I-Mei Foods Co has a reputation of keeping a tight grip on the quality of its products — called on the legal system to establish uniform standards for the quality of food products.

  “Both the 1979 case of cooking oil found to contain polychlorinated biphenyl and the recent case involving Ting Hsin indicate that the courts should rule on such cases according to a uniform standard based on fairness and credibility. Instead, local courts seem to operate according to their own standards,” Kao said.

  

  Green Party-Social Democratic Party Alliance legislative candidates yesterday paint crosses onto placards containing pictures of products made by Ting Hsin International Group outside the Legislative Yuan in Taipei.

  Photo: Luo Pei-der, Taipei Times

  The Act Governing Food Safety and Sanitation (食品安全衛生管理法) must be amended to facilitate the “sharing of responsibilities” between the Council of Agriculture, the Ministry of Health and Welfare and the Environmental Protection Administration, Kao said, adding that the pressure on the Food and Drug Administration to do all the work is “impractical and unfair.”

  “Even more than the need to examine and revise laws and regulations, the government urgently needs to assist and guide consumers, micro-restaurants and food manufacturers,” he said.

  The government should also strive to inform consumers and agricultural producers about food safety through education and guidance, especially when “many of them do not know anything about where pollutants come from,” Kao said.

  The nation’s food-safety laboratories need to tackle novel and unidentified types of contaminants created by pollution, Kao said.

  For example, PM2.5 particles — tiny airborne particles which embed deeply in the lungs — will eventually contaminate the soil, seeping into agricultural products, Kao said.

  “Laboratories only test for known toxins such as pesticides, heavy metals, livestock drugs, antibiotics and radiation, but I-Mei is working to identify unknown toxins in food products, Kao said, adding that regulators should provide laboratory testing services.

  Smaller suppliers are frequently asked by clients to furnish test results for their food products, which is an economic burden, and a system run by the government would be more efficient, he said.
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