More robust legislation, including higher fines, are required to stop betel nut vendors illegally selling to underage people, the Consumers’ Foundation said on Thursday, citing the results of its field tests.
The tests in Taiwan’s 22 administrative regions from July to last month collected data from 53 randomly selected betel nut stalls, foundation chairman Wu Jung-ta (吳榮達) told a media briefing at his office in Taipei.
The foundation sent a team with a young adult dressed in a high-school uniform to make purchases, Wu said.
Photo: Chen Wei-chi, Taipei Times
Of the 53 vendors, 30, or 56.6 percent, did not ask about age or check their ID before selling the team member betel nuts, he said.
In doing so, the vendors contravened Article 43 of the Protection of Children and Youths Welfare and Rights Act (兒童及少年福利與權益保障法), which prohibits supplying betel nuts to people aged under 18 and stipulates a fine of NT$10,000 to NT$100,000 (US$313.91 to US$3,139.12).
Betel nut kiosks in Pingtung, Yunlin, Hualien and Taitung counties, as well as in Keelung, failed the test by selling to the team member, while no vendors in Hsinchu City, Chiayi City, Tainan or Penghu County sold to the team, he said.
“Chewing betel nut is known to induce cancer and starting at a young age brings a higher risk of addiction,” Wu said. “It is a serious problem, as the government spends about NT$100 billion annually on cancer treatment and related costs, one-sixth of the National Health Insurance budget.”
The government should draft regulations specifically for the betel nut industry, including rules for where stalls can be set up and who can make purchases, he said, adding that fines should be increased to the levels of the Tobacco Hazards Prevention Act (菸害防制法).
“About 2 million people in Taiwan have a betel nut habit, which can lead to oral cancer, as well as dental problems,” said foundation financial officer Hao Sheng-po (侯勝博), who heads the otolaryngology department at Shin Kong Wu Ho-Su Memorial Hospital.
Betel nut is a stimulant that can lead to addiction, Hao said.
“It contains arecoline, arecaidine and n-nitrosamines, and releases oxyradicals and other toxins that can damage the respiratory system and lead to defects in the DNA,” he said. “It causes damage in the mouth and deformation of the teeth, and regular use for 20 years is associated with high risk of oral and esophageal cancer.”
In Taiwan, 8,000 people a year are diagnosed with oral cancer, with 3,000 dying annually, he said.
Foundation secretary-general Chen Ya-ping (陳雅萍) said that while regulations are meant to protect children, “the Control Yuan in a 2021 report reprimanded the Executive Yuan over a lack of effort to regulate sales and consumption of betel nut.”
“There has been no progress on the matter,” Chen said.
The government should enact regulations for the entire industry from betel nut plantations to distribution and sales, she said, adding that education and warnings are needed to establish a complete management system to safeguard the health of consumers.
Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Chairman Eric Chu (朱立倫), spokeswoman Yang Chih-yu (楊智伃) and Legislator Hsieh Lung-chieh (謝龍介) would be summoned by police for questioning for leading an illegal assembly on Thursday evening last week, Minister of the Interior Liu Shyh-fang (劉世芳) said today. The three KMT officials led an assembly outside the Taipei City Prosecutors’ Office, a restricted area where public assembly is not allowed, protesting the questioning of several KMT staff and searches of KMT headquarters and offices in a recall petition forgery case. Chu, Yang and Hsieh are all suspected of contravening the Assembly and Parade Act (集會遊行法) by holding
PRAISE: Japanese visitor Takashi Kubota said the Taiwanese temple architecture images showcased in the AI Art Gallery were the most impressive displays he saw Taiwan does not have an official pavilion at the World Expo in Osaka, Japan, because of its diplomatic predicament, but the government-backed Tech World pavilion is drawing interest with its unique recreations of works by Taiwanese artists. The pavilion features an artificial intelligence (AI)-based art gallery showcasing works of famous Taiwanese artists from the Japanese colonial period using innovative technologies. Among its main simulated displays are Eastern gouache paintings by Chen Chin (陳進), Lin Yu-shan (林玉山) and Kuo Hsueh-hu (郭雪湖), who were the three young Taiwanese painters selected for the East Asian Painting exhibition in 1927. Gouache is a water-based
Taiwan would welcome the return of Honduras as a diplomatic ally if its next president decides to make such a move, Minister of Foreign Affairs Lin Chia-lung (林佳龍) said yesterday. “Of course, we would welcome Honduras if they want to restore diplomatic ties with Taiwan after their elections,” Lin said at a meeting of the legislature’s Foreign Affairs and National Defense Committee, when asked to comment on statements made by two of the three Honduran presidential candidates during the presidential campaign in the Central American country. Taiwan is paying close attention to the region as a whole in the wake of a
OFF-TARGET: More than 30,000 participants were expected to take part in the Games next month, but only 6,550 foreign and 19,400 Taiwanese athletes have registered Taipei city councilors yesterday blasted the organizers of next month’s World Masters Games over sudden timetable and venue changes, which they said have caused thousands of participants to back out of the international sporting event, among other organizational issues. They also cited visa delays and political interference by China as reasons many foreign athletes are requesting refunds for the event, to be held from May 17 to 30. Jointly organized by the Taipei and New Taipei City governments, the games have been rocked by numerous controversies since preparations began in 2020. Taipei City Councilor Lin Yen-feng (林延鳳) said yesterday that new measures by
RSS