The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) on Friday issued a correction against Ministry of Agriculture officials in Chiayi County for serving fried stink bugs at an event, as the insects have not been approved for human consumption.
The Chiayi branch of the ministry’s Forestry and Nature Conservation Agency on April 27 held an educational event about insects as a food source at the Chukou Nature Center in Fanlu Township (番路).
At the event, organizers prepared fried lychee giant stink bugs, presented as a creative way to eradicate invasive species.
Photo courtesy of the Forestry and Nature Conservation Agency Chiayi branch
The Chiayi County Health Bureau on Thursday said that no one at the event ate the insects.
Taiwan has no tradition of eating stink bugs and has not approved them for human consumption, FDA Deputy Director-General Lin Chin-fu (林金富) said on Friday.
Providing food that has not been approved is punishable by a fine of NT$60,000 to NT$200 million (US$1,851 to US$6.17 million) under Article 15 of the Act Governing Food Safety and Sanitation (食品安全衛生管理法), Lin said.
There is no problem if the insects were merely presented as an example, but could merit a fine if they were served as food, he added.
There was also a previous case in which agriculture officials used the entire butterfly pea flower in a dish, despite it only being approved for coloring, Lin said.
“You can’t eat the entire flower!” he said.
The FDA is to send inspectors to see if it merits a fine, Lin said, calling on officials to exercise caution when organizing events.
Additional reporting by CNA
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