The Ministry of Health and Welfare yesterday announced that it would spend NT$1.85 billion (US$57.66 million) over the next four years on improving food safety, most notably by expanding the use of artificial intelligence (AI).
The ministry at a Cabinet meeting briefed Premier Cho Jung-tai (卓榮泰) on its AI-enhanced food safety plans focusing on three key areas: food source risk management, chain of custody certification and community monitoring.
The Executive Yuan approved the new food safety management plan in August, the ministry said.
Photo courtesy of the Executive Yuan
Food safety is central to the government’s agenda, Cabinet spokeswoman Michelle Lee (李慧芝) quoted Cho as saying during the meeting, as he urged the ministry to carefully carry out the initiative.
The plan requires a budget increase of about 73 percent from NT$186.2 million this year to NT$321.4 million next year, a NT$135.1 million difference, Lee cited Cho as saying.
The policy is part of a broader agenda termed the “five strikes and seven safeties,” which refer to five types of crime — organized, financial, gun, drug and fraud — the government wants to tackle, and seven safety issues — public, food, road, occupational, school, housing and cybersecurity — that the ministry is to uphold, she said.
The project uses AI and digital technology to promote four key tasks: export development; improved management of specific industries such as cold chain storage; monitoring of heavy metals in food products; and analysis of international food advertising regulations, the ministry said.
AI would also be used to optimize risk management and early warning mechanisms for food safety incidents, in addition to providing services for the public and regulating food advertisements, it said.
The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) said it would continue to improve its food safety management policies, including enhancing cooperation with local officials on food inspections, increasing its capacity for inspections, refining management of imported food sources and expanding its international food risk alert monitoring.
The FDA said it would also coordinate cross-ministerial inspections to support digital initiatives, and reinforce food safety and hygiene precautions.
Taiwan would benefit from more integrated military strategies and deployments if the US and its allies treat the East China Sea, the Taiwan Strait and the South China Sea as a “single theater of operations,” a Taiwanese military expert said yesterday. Shen Ming-shih (沈明室), a researcher at the Institute for National Defense and Security Research, said he made the assessment after two Japanese military experts warned of emerging threats from China based on a drill conducted this month by the Chinese People’s Liberation Army’s (PLA) Eastern Theater Command. Japan Institute for National Fundamentals researcher Maki Nakagawa said the drill differed from the
‘WORSE THAN COMMUNISTS’: President William Lai has cracked down on his political enemies and has attempted to exterminate all opposition forces, the chairman said The legislature would motion for a presidential recall after May 20, Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Chairman Eric Chu (朱立倫) said yesterday at a protest themed “against green communists and dictatorship” in Taipei. Taiwan is supposed to be a peaceful homeland where people are united, but President William Lai (賴清德) has been polarizing and tearing apart society since his inauguration, Chu said. Lai must show his commitment to his job, otherwise a referendum could be initiated to recall him, he said. Democracy means the rule of the people, not the rule of the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP), but Lai has failed to fulfill his
A fugitive in a suspected cosmetic surgery fraud case today returned to Taiwan from Canada, after being wanted for six years. Internet celebrity Su Chen-tuan (蘇陳端), known as Lady Nai Nai (貴婦奈奈), and her former boyfriend, plastic surgeon Paul Huang (黃博健), allegedly defrauded clients and friends of about NT$1 billion (US$30.66 million). Su was put on a wanted list in 2019 when she lived in Toronto, Canada, after failing to respond to subpoenas and arrest warrants from the Taipei District Prosecutors’ Office. Su arrived at Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport at 5am today on an EVA Air flight accompanied by a
A rally held by opposition parties yesterday demonstrates that Taiwan is a democratic country, President William Lai (賴清德) said yesterday, adding that if opposition parties really want to fight dictatorship, they should fight it on Tiananmen Square in Beijing. The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) held a protest with the theme “against green communists and dictatorship,” and was joined by the Taiwan People’s Party. Lai said the opposition parties are against what they called the “green communists,” but do not fight against the “Chinese communists,” adding that if they really want to fight dictatorship, they should go to the right place and face
RSS