The Taipei Public Health Specialists Association yesterday said it applauds the government for its efforts to institutionalize the management of food safety in food delivery by drafting a specialized act, but also suggested that it can further develop an “ability test” to replace mandatory “training hours.”
The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) on Thursday announced drafted regulations on the implementation of food sanitation, and safety education and training for food delivery workers.
The draft act stipulates that new food delivery workers must complete at least an hour of food sanitation and safety training before they start working, and incumbent workers must also receive at least an hour of training each year.
Photo: Taipei Times
The association yesterday said, although it applauds the government’s efforts, it suggested developing an “ability test” to replace mandatory “training hours” to achieve better training effectiveness through standardized teaching materials, situational tests and tiered auditing.
Association president Wong Ruey-hong (翁瑞宏) said that as food delivery platforms become a common channel for people to purchase meals on a daily basis, food safety risks have extended beyond the kitchen to the delivery process.
Temperature control, the separation of hot and cold food, packaging integrity and delivery efficiency can all impact food safety and quality, so the FDA’s proactive attempt to regulate food safety in delivery services reflects a forward-thinking management approach, which deserves recognition, he said.
The FDA’s draft would affect about 100,000 food delivery workers across the country, Wong said, adding that the Occupational Safety and Health Administration’s statistics show that the number of food delivery workers has surpassed 140,000.
The high number of workers highlights the importance of establishing a comprehensive training system, he said.
Association council member Tsai Ping-chien (蔡秉兼) said the draft act requires delivery workers to complete at least an hour of food safety training that can be administered by either the platform operators or approved institutions, which ensures high coverage and industry flexibility, making it a highly pragmatic and feasible regulatory design.
However, the quality of the platforms’ self-run courses, online learning identity verification and cross-platform auditing standards might need to be further improved to ensure that training truly reflects actual food delivery working conditions, he said.
The association provided three suggestions, including developing standardized training materials and courses for food delivery scenarios, focusing on temperature control, hot and cold food separation and packaging, and packaging integrity.
They also suggested setting random scenario-based quizzes and periodic facial recognition check-ins on platform apps to verify that the training was completed by the users themselves.
Citing regulations from other countries, the association said several countries have gradually expanded their scope of food safety management to include food delivery services in the past few years.
Taiwan’s approach of mandating food safety training for delivery workers through regulations is considered a comparatively proactive measure by international standards, the association said.
If the focus can be shifted from training hours to ability verification, while ensuring platform responsibility and rigorous auditing, delivery food safety management and consumer health can be further enhanced, it added.
Delivery food safety is a risk governance effort shared by platforms, delivery drivers and the government, Wong said, adding that the association is willing to offer its public health expertise to assist the government in continuously improving the regulations.
UPGRADE: The Kang Ding-class frigate is replacing its Chaparall missiles with Tien Chien II and Hua Yang VLS, which would provide it with long-range, 360° air defense Taiwan plans to produce 1,200 to 1,376 Hai Chien II missiles (海劍二, Sea Sword II) — also known as TC-2N — to serve as the standard air defense system of the navy’s surface combatant fleet, a source said yesterday. Last week, the Hai Chien II, the naval version of the Tien Kung II missile (天劍二, Sky Sword II), completed a live-fire test in waters off the National Chungshan Institute of Science and Technology’s Jiupeng facility (九鵬) in Pingtung County’s Manjhou Township (滿州). The MIM72 Chaparral and other dated air defense missiles that currently arm Taiwanese ships have inadequate range to combat Chinese
REASONS FOR TRAVEL: An assistant professor said that proposed amendments to penalize drivers if they used drugs overseas would not deter people from traveling People who operate a motor vehicle under the influence of marijuana would have their driver’s license revoked, even if they used the substance while overseas, the Ministry of Transportation and Communications said yesterday, citing proposed amendments to the Road Traffic Management and Penalty Act (道路交通管理處罰條例). The amendments would also authorize the government to revoke the licenses of people determined to have used Category 1 or Category 2 narcotics, even if they were not operating a vehicle while under the influence of drugs, as well as ban them from taking the license test for three years, the ministry said. People aged 18 or
HEAVY WEATHER: Typhoon Jangmi is due to crash straight into the Ryukyus as airlines look to shift flights to larger aircraft or cancel flights to Okinawa entirely Taiwan’s international air carriers announced flight adjustments over the weekend as Typhoon Jangmi is forecast to hit the Ryukyu Islands today and tomorrow. The Central Weather Administration (CWA) upgraded Jangmi from a tropical storm to a typhoon at 8am yesterday, with the eye located 580km south of Naha city. It was moving north at 19kph. Today, China Airlines’ CI-120, CI-121, CI-122 and CI-123 flights between Taoyuan and Naha, Okinawa, have been canceled as well as CI-132 and CI-133 between Kaohsiung and Naha. EVA Air’s BR-112, BR-113, BR-186 and BR-185 flights between Taoyuan and Naha are also canceled. Low-cost carrier Tigerair Taiwan canceled IT-230,
Johanne Liou (劉喬安), a Taiwanese woman who shot to unwanted fame during the Sunflower movement protests in 2014, returned to Taiwan last night after being deported from the US. She is to stand trial in Taiwan for charges involving embezzlement, fraud and drug crimes. The Criminal Investigation Bureau (CIB) said it took her into custody at Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport and would first question her before transferring her to the New Taipei District Prosecutors’ Office. She was arrested upon disembarking a flight from San Francisco that landed shortly before 7pm. Liou absconded to the US in 2019 after jumping bail
RSS