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2014 Annual Report
3
.
Proactive Action Items
This Administration will immediately launch joint investigations with all local Health
Bureaus to enforce inspections of all starch raw material manufacturers in their
jurisdictions and trace and track the illegal products and raw material flow. Products that
have been verified as illegal will be prohibited from sales, removed from shelves, recalled
and returned to the upstream distributors or manufacturers, and destroyed under the
supervision of the local Health Bureau immediately.
(1) Provide product safety affidavit or certificate
Starting from June 1st, 2013, all starch-category raw material suppliers were required to
provide Product Safety Affidavits or Certificates to all vendors carrying starch-containing
products. By June 20th, the Administration had confirmed and controlled the sources
of the illegal upstream product manufacturing, and from that day on, vendors of starch
products no longer needed to post raw materials Product Safety Affidavits or Certificates
for starch products. However, they could still voluntarily post the affidavits or certificates,
and any transgressions are still punishable by law.
(2) Process transparency
The reported results from all local city and county Health Bureaus have been collected,
scrutinized, and published on the Administration
’
s website. In the time leading up to
June 30th, an estimated 571.63 tons of illegal products were recovered and confiscated.
Except for a small portion (approximately 2.27%) sequestrated by the prosecutors,
the confiscated products have been destroyed. The involved suppliers that have been
cracked down include one wholesaler and three distributors of
“
maleic anhydride
”
, and
nine manufacturers and 71 retailers of maleic anhydride-based starch.
4
.
Comprehensive Review of Regulations and Policies
Food safety incidents have repeatedly demonstrated that suppliers and manufacturers
are incapable of self-management at the sources. Therefore, to curb the recurrence
of illegalities from suppliers and manufacturers, comprehensive new laws will impose
heavier penalties for all types of violations and increase fines for irregularities and criminal
liabilities in order to give health agencies more authority and responsibilities and increase
the liabilities of the food industry in order to establish and improve the food safety
management system and consumer peace of mind.
Section 2 Illegal Cooking Oil Adulteration and Copper Chlorophyll
Tainting Incident
1. Causes of Incident
(1) In October 2013 an incident of adulterated oil and illegal addition of sodium copper
chlorophyllin occurred. People in Taiwan commonly used olive oil for cooking, and