Pork containing ractopamine residues within safe levels would not endanger human health, former Academia Sinica president Lee Yuan-tseh (李遠哲) said yesterday.
From Friday last week, US pork containing ractopamine — 0.01 parts per million (ppm) for meat, skin and other edible parts; 0.04 ppm for pig liver and kidney — are allowed to be imported, although there is still a ban on use of the leanness-enhancing feed additive on local pigs.
Speaking on the sidelines of a seminar on climate issues hosted by the New Power Party in Taipei, Lee said that many substances consumed by humans can be toxic if the levels are excessive, including sugar and sodium nitrate.
Photo: Tu Chien-jung, Taipei Times
It is “inconceivable” that pork containing the feed additive could occupy public attention for so long when other issues, such as air pollution and its link to lung cancer, need more input, he said.
Asked if people can eat pork products containing ractopamine within safe levels, Lee said: “Yes.”
When asked whether his view might be opposed by mainstream public opinion, Lee said in that case, it is likely that people do not always get the correct information.
A University of California biochemist years ago found that every kind of food contains carcinogens and has since been promoting the notion that “to eat is to die,” Lee said.
The biochemist wants people to realize eating is a process that leads to death and to be careful about the amount of specific foods they consume, he said.
Similarly, not all food imported from Japanese areas around the Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear power plant after its 2011 disaster are problematic, he said.
Taiwan has banned food imports from five Japanese prefectures — Fukushima, Ibaraki, Tochigi, Gunma and Chiba — since the nuclear disaster, which was triggered by tsunami on March 11, 2011.
It is essential to examine if a food product is polluted by excessive radioactive isotopes, Lee said, adding that he is opposed to use of the term “nuke food,” as some media have reported.
The term “nuke food” sounds like it contains nuclear waste or something, which is not correct, Lee said.
Food products should be considered safe if they are found to be free of nuclear pollution, he said, adding that food safety checks are important.
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