Food safety issues emerged once again last month with the revelation that potentially radioactive food has been imported into Taiwan. Taiwan’s Food and Drug Administration (TFDA) announced on April 16 that it will tighten rules on food imports from Japan after it was revealed that bogus labels on certain products misidentified the origin of the…
Proponents see an answer to world hunger; critics fear risk to human health and the environment. Concern over the safety of consuming food with genetically modified organisms (GMO) has increased in Taiwan, as it has in much of the world. Taiwan is a major consumer of soy, annually importing an average of 8 million bushels…
Food companies find it hard to comply with a rule on the listing of ingredients. In the food industry lexicon, a “carry-over” is a substance – either a food ingredient or a food additive – that is present in a food product only because it is a subcomponent of another ingredient. The carry-over performs no…
Disgraced Ting Hsin Oil and Fat Industrial Co. chairman Wei Ying-chun was released on NT$100 million in bail on January 28 by the Changhua District Court. Wei, one of four brothers making up one of the wealthiest families in Taiwan, was indicted on October 21 for his role in the waste oil scandal that rocked…
The GMP system is designed to bring sufficient expertise to the certification process. Elden Cheng, vice president in charge of production for leading Taiwan tofu-maker Brothers Farm Foods Co., hardly looks forward to the annual Costco audit his company must endure to keep its products on Costco’s shelves. The process takes at least a day…
In its short five years of existence, Taiwan’s Food and Drug Administration (TFDA) has had to confront a number of hot button issues at the center of national controversies, including plasticizers in cold drinks and food items, starches contaminated with illegal chemical additives, and waste and feed oil in the edible oils supply. By Timothy…
Note: This article is the first part of a 3-part cover feature. [Part 2: TFDA in the Cross Hairs] [Part 3: The Advantages of Industry Self-regulation] Good eating has long been one of the joys of living in Taiwan, but a series of food-related scandals has left the public concerned about the safety and reliability…
CULLING POULTRY — The Formosa Plastics Group provided manpower and disinfecting equipment, as at this goose farm in Chiayi, to help in the effort to respond to the avian flu outbreak. An outbreak of bird flu that began afflicting poultry in Taiwan as early as last fall has escalated into a full-blown epidemic, with the…
