- Department:Chemicals Administration Ministry of Environment
Lunar New Year is the time when a large variety of food products hit the market. Recently, the Toxic and Chemical Substances Bureau (TCSB) of the EPA and the Council of Agriculture (COA) jointly assisted egg farmers with the safe usage and control of related chemical substances. This helped to ensure the safety of eggs and food products containing eggs, so that the public could consume them without safety concerns.
The TCSB said that feed additives are likely to come from raw chemical material suppliers. Since its establishment in 2016, the TCSB has worked with county and city environmental bureaus to assist and inspect over 3,000 raw chemical material suppliers in Taiwan to implement at-source controls for food safety. Besides re-inspections of raw chemical material suppliers in 2018, the 2018 Egg Farmers’ Chemical Substances Self-Management Improving Plan was also implemented. In addition, the inspection and assisting of egg farms have been expanded, with the completion of 20 farm inspections before the lunar New Year. Instruction on four principles for farm chemical substance controls were given as well, namely: clarifying origins, applying chemicals correctly, using chemicals safely, and storage management.
Principles for farm chemical substance controls
Also, the Guidance for Egg Farmers Chemical Substance Self-Management will be formulated in 2018. It will include organizing 20 to 30 education workshops, building partnerships with egg farmers, and collaborating to stop chemical contamination of egg products. All are efforts to prevent food safety incidents like fipronil-contaminated chicken eggs and duck eggs contaminated with Sudan Red G from occurring again.
The TCSB emphasized that only a few egg farmers use chemicals that make eggs presentable for sale, despite their health risks, probably because they are unfamiliar with components in feed additives or are persuaded by salespersons’ pitches or misleading local rumors. However, the use of illegal drugs and disinfectants for disease vector control stirs up public concern. Through conveying to egg farmers the correct usage of chemical substances, the EPA hopes to help farmers make reasonable profits, while ensuring public health and safeguarding food safety.
TCSB personnel visit an egg farmer to promote self-management of chemical substances
Source: EPA Environmental Policy Monthly, p.5-6, Vol. XXI, Issue 3, 2018
