The Executive Yuan yesterday approved a draft act to promote nutrition, which would punish false advertisements about food products, with a repeatable fine of up to NT$300,000 (US$9,300).
Cabinet spokesman Lin Tze-luen (林子倫) made the announcement at a news conference following the weekly Executive Yuan meeting.
He cited Premier Chen Chien-jen (陳建仁) as saying during the meeting that the draft act is part of an effort to tackle unhealthy diets, which have significantly impacted public health and contributes to the spread of noncommunicable diseases.
Photo: Huang Mei-chu, Taipei Times
The draft act would facilitate the creation of a supportive environment for healthy eating and public education on nutrition, as well as improve public health, he paraphrased Chen as saying.
The premier expressed hope that legislators would pass the proposal quickly, Chen added.
According to the draft, making false claims about health in food advertising or spreading them by any other methods would be an offense punishable by a fine of between NT$30,000 and NT$300,000 following a warning.
The fine could be imposed consecutively, it added.
The draft act would also authorize the establishment of a food nutritional value database, new diet guidelines for the consideration of public social welfare programs and incentives for utilizing healthy additives.
The central government should propose measures to improve the environment for good nutrition in universities, schools, kindergartens, hospitals, nursing homes and correctional facilities, it said.
This means that the performance review metrics of the relevant government facilities and agencies would include nutrition and diet education programs, while the training of relevant personnel would include these subjects, according to the draft act.
Public institutions that care for children and young people would be required to serve healthy meals, while kindergartens, elementary schools, and junior and senior-high schools would be required to serve or sell healthy snacks and meals, it said.
Healthy meals must be served to children and young people under the care of a public institution, while healthy snacks and beverages should be served in kindergartens, elementary schools, high schools and their commissaries, the draft act says.
The proposed nutrition and diet law was drafted to fulfill Taiwan’s pledge to comply with the Rome Declaration on Nutrition and the Framework for Action made by the UN in 2016, the Ministry of Health and Welfare said in a news release.
The draft act’s language drew from similar legislation for eliminating malnutrition in Japan, South Korea and the US, among other nations, it said.
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