While the off-shelving, recalling, and sealing of inferior, contaminated lard products are completed and a nation-wide inspection is being carried out, all problematic lard and foods are to be completely destroyed to show the government’s determination in eradicating illegal foods and ensuring food safety for the people. Today (September 18), the Ministry of Health and Welfare’s Food and Drug Administration (FDA), the Public Health Bureau and Environmental Protection Bureau of Taoyuan County, and Taoyuan District Prosecutors Office jointly conducted the first operation to destroy contaminated foods en masse following the recent contaminated lard incident: 23 tons of scallion pancake products were destroyed and a total of 47.3 tons of illegal products were destroyed nationwide. 

Minister Chiu Wen-Ta of Health and Welfare went to the Xinrong Refuse Incineration Plant in Zhongli City, Taoyuan County today to inspect the current mass destruction of contaminated foods. Minister Chiu gave special thanks to the Public Health Bureau and Environmental Protection Bureau of Taoyuan County and Taoyuan District Prosecutors Office for helping in the destruction work. He also thanked all Public Health Bureau officials in various counties and cities for their hard work in completing the ongoing general inspection and supervising the off-shelving and recalling of problematic foods. These officials’ hard work is expected to accelerate the destruction of illegal products and encourage producers to use safe oils for food production and sellers to re-shelve their products as soon as possible, so that consumers may be assured of food safety. 

Minister Chiu also clarified today that it is the Ministry’s duty to protect consumers’ rights, while the heightened awareness among citizens and the media’s special emphasis and reports on the matter are also contributing factors; therefore, the Ministry did not intend to blame the media’s coverage of the incident. There are more than a hundred-thousand food producers and more than a million products in the country. A number of major food safety incidents in recent years have been caused by the illegal acts of a small number of abominable, dark-minded food producers. We owe a lot to the courageous citizens and conscientious low-level civil servants, like Mr. Yang, for the successful exposure of these illegal acts. This is what Premier Jiang referred to as the food safety “trinity” consisting of the government, business and the public yesterday. The media plays one of the important roles in promoting food safety and has been assisting in the dissemination of accurate information in uncovering the problems. 

The management of food safety requires the entire population’s concerted effort. We hope all aspiring, righteous citizens and reporters will dedicate themselves to the endeavor of wiping out maliciousness and creating a brand-new start for food safety – a safe environment for food consumption.