Taiwan

Mainland, Taiwan to upgrade efforts on food safety

(Xinhua)
Updated: 2011-06-16 16:01

XIAMEN - Officials and experts with the quality supervision authorities and institutions from the Chinese mainland and Taiwan have called for concerted efforts to ensure food safety on both sides of the Strait.

"The mainland and Taiwan should strengthen cooperation in safeguarding food safety, which is an important issue for both sides of the Strait," said Zhang Gang, chief engineer of the General Administration of Quality Supervision, Inspection and Quarantine (AQSIQ), the country's quality control watchdog.

Zhang made the remarks at a quality forum that is part of the ongoing Third Straits Forum held in the southeastern coastal city of Xiamen, the largest-ever grassroots exchange event between the Chinese mainland and Taiwan.

"The two sides should jointly deal with illegal food production and face the challenges of food safety for the well-being of the people," Zhang said.

The quality forum was held in the wake of a food safety scam that swept  Taiwan and sent shock waves to people on both sides of the Strait.

In mid May, Taiwan's health authority announced that it had found a food addictive supplier to have illegally added toxic plasticizer DEHP in its products to substitute for more expensive palm oil to cut costs.

DEHP, or Di(2-ethylhexyl) phthalate, is usually used to soften plastic products and repeated exposure to it could lead to testicular defects or fertility problems. Children are especially prone to the harmful effects of DEHP.

The DEHP-contaminated additives are believed to have been sold to hundreds of food and beverage producers in Taiwan.

The mainland has since ordered a ban on imports of nearly 1,000 Taiwan-made food and beverage products. Products suspected of being contaminated with DEHP were recalled or withdrawn from shelves.