Premier orders establishment of food safety inspection fund

Taipei, March 14 (CNA) Premier Chen Chien-jen (陳建仁) on Thursday ordered that a fund helping small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) handle food safety inspections be established, amid a food safety scandal involving the presence of Sudan dyes, a class of carcinogenic dye outlawed in Taiwan.

During a Cabinet meeting Thursday, Chen instructed Executive Yuan Secretary-General Li Men-yen (李孟諺) to convene representatives from government bodies to discuss establishing the fund to increase the efficacy of food safety management, according to Cabinet spokesman Lin Tze-luen (林子倫).

Hsu Fu (許輔), the director of the Executive Yuan's Food Safety Office, said after the Cabinet meeting that the fund will help SMEs check whether their products meet compliance requirements.

Hsu noted that despite not importing large amounts of problematic pepper and curry powder, SMEs were still having to shoulder the cost of testing the dyes.

It was therefore suggested at a meeting of the Food Safety Office meeting Wednesday that a cooperation model directly linking industry and government be established.

The premier issued the direction after the Food Safety Office reported measures that could be deployed to stop similar situations from happening again during the Cabinet meeting.

The office proposed imposing a permanent ban on overseas manufacturers or exporters selling products to Taiwanese companies that were found to test positive for Sudan dyes.

It added that any substandard products should be destroyed.

Furthermore, it suggested banning imports from companies whose products were found to contain other toxic substances or illegal additives.

If tainted food items are found, food products from the same country of origin with the same "commodity classification code" should also be subject to shipment-by-shipment inspections, the office said.

The codes describe specific products that are being imported or exported.

Meanwhile, the Cabinet will hold a meeting between central and local governments on Friday to discuss measures to strengthen food safety.

In early February, the Yunlin Public Health Bureau announced it had found on Jan. 30 that a brand of red chili powder produced by a food manufacturer in the county contained 18 parts per billion (ppb) of Sudan III.

Subsequent probes by Taiwan's Food and Drug Administration (TFDA) and local health authorities revealed that raw ingredients for the contaminated red chili powder were imported by New Taipei-based Bao Hsin Enterprises Co., Ltd. from Henan Sanhe Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd. in China.

The contaminated chili powder controversy has continued to intensify as companies that had bought the tainted product are revealed.

During Thursday's meeting, the premier asked the Ministry of Health and Welfare to complete its investigations within one month and directed relevant government agencies to devise measures to address the issue within three months, according to the Cabinet spokesman.