Meat that has been injected with artificial marbling must have that information clearly labeled on its packaging starting on July 1, the Taiwan Food and Drug Administration (FDA) said on Thursday.
FDA technical specialist Chen Yu-hsuan (陳瑜絢) said that the new policy requires the labeling to say “artificial marbling” in Chinese, adding that the label must also instruct consumers to cook the meat before eating.
Restaurants must clearly indicate marbling on menus, signs or cards when serving this type of meat, she said.
Photo: Taipei Times file photo
Artificially marbled meats have been injected with animal fat, vegetable oil or other types of fats and mixed with other products to create the illusion of marbling, an FDA statement said.
Marbled meat tends to be more tender and flavorful, making a marbled appearance appealing to consumers, although the meat is lower in cost when marbled artificially.
Businesses could face fines of NT$30,000 to NT$3 million (US$1,058 to US$105,783) for not complying with the new labeling rules after July 1, as per the Act Governing Food Safety and Sanitation (食品安全衛生管理法), while intentionally deceptive labeling could net a fine of between NT$40,000 to NT$4 million, the FDA said.
Separately, the FDA said that regulations are being drafted related to the use of aloe in edible products, and would be in place by Jan. 1 next year.
Regulations to govern the use of aloe are necessary as capsules and packaged beverages containing the product could cause uterine contractions or miscarriages in pregnant women, FDA official Liao Chia-ting (廖家鼎) said.
Only properly peeled leaves of aloe vera and aloe ferox would be allowed in edible products, Liao said.
Edible products would be limited to no more than 10 parts per million of the compound aloin, and must contain warnings for pregnant women on their labels, he said, adding that products containing less than 1 ppm of aloin would not require a label.
The proposed regulations include fines ranging from NT$30,000 to NT$3 million for improper labeling, he added.
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