Commercial pet food is I think far more clearly labeled than much of the processed food made for humans here.
Chosen tidbits from local news:
-
The Chang Kung guy -who’s almost a celebrity now- almost cried in front of the news cameras, begging the G’ment to pay attention to the matter.
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All talk shows/news programs/anchors of the political spectrum agree that the way things are being done now -checking individual products- is hare-brained. Instead, they should check from the top (distributors)…
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…which BTW have grown from just one company suppliying “DEHP and other Ds enriched emulsifiers” to three… so far…
-
The news were using the RT-Mart tiramisu as an example: the supermarket checked the stuff themselves, and they took the iniciative of going to the authorities/public with the news… their distributor is not the original company that started this party…
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And last but not least, 100% of local jams and jellies were found to contain 0% of real fruit: it’s all artificial coloring. This I personally find awfully insulting, given that Taiwan’s fruit is abundant, delicious, and I am sure anyone would pay wahtever they ask for a nice jar of Taiwanese produce. So why in Heaven’s name do they have to use chemicals?!
Oh, and a final note on milk. In the program Guo Ming Ta Huey -not my favorite, but stay with me, this is interesting- they were actually making the mixes. For milk, you add a lot of water, some coloring, and a few droplets of milk flavoring and voila, a liter of “milk”. Please note that neither the coloring nor the flavoring have gone closer to a cow anywhere else but in a dictionary… Yet the smell, as with artificial fruit colorings, is stronger than the real thing. Try it. Go to any bakery store, they have it right on the shelf, next to the spices.
Yeah, the cheap ones in local supermarkets look AWFUL and you can’t see any fruit in them. Why? Greed and lack of scruples on the part of business people, combined with ignorance (not knowing the difference between good stuff and crap) and penny pinching (good stuff costs $) by consumers.
There are VERY nice locally produced jams and jellies like Red On Tree (在欉紅) using real fruit and even organic fruit, by the way. You just have to go to places like Simple Market or Earth Day green markets or 天和 (Tanhou Organic supermarket thofood.com tel: 2351-6268
Bei Ping East Road, number 30; two blocks away from Shantao Temple MRT Station; I’m told 天和 has a second store at Bella Vita (B2) in Xinyi near City Hall MRT), or the 248 Farmer’s Market, which among others has a place at B1 Mitsukoshi in Xinyi acc. to Dragonbabe.
I’m going to hang out in Alaska as long as possible and them bring back loads of sourdough starter.
icon, you mean the cheap ones which no one in their right mind would buy. I go for a local organic one that is loaded with real muberries. Can’t fake that.
I’m going to hang out in Alaska as long as possible and them bring back loads of sourdough starter.[/quote]
No need for loads. A tiny sachet (even dry) will do. Add water and flour once here, and you will soon have loads. 
Anyway, you can just start a starter here, or have some of mine, which I got from BP.
And in case you need another incentive to start making your own bread:
[quote]The Department of Health yesterday said it did not plan to include bread and other baked goods in its inspection regime for illegal plasticizers …Food and Drug Administration Director-General Kang Jaw-jou (康照洲) said that more than 30,000 products fell under the five categories of foods and beverages that need to undergo laboratory testing.
As such, there was not enough time or resources to conduct comprehensive inspections of each bakery or pastry shop, Kang said.
[/quote] source
Meanwhile, here is a good indication of the extent of the problem:
Guys, organics are subject to other, far more strict regulators, so, it doesn’t count here as part of the problem -they are tested, actually, for any extra chemical, so the question of them not being chemical/unatural doe snot apply. Remember a lot of stuff that is considered organic in the US or Europe is not here because the bar is set too high. It is a whole different ball game -thank God.
Plus those coops and specialized supermarkets have a rep to build, they are communities by themselves, and the people who buy them tend to be zealous about their stuff, wouldn’t want to cross them.
So, yeah, stick to real stuff, real fruit, real organic… if you can. Many people eat those cheapies unknowingly: the taro mix for breads and ice cream, the kiwi soda, the sauce on your steak… seriously, guys, it is not just drinks and jams. It is a sneaky problem.
My flour is from Japan, the starter from US. The nuts organic. I hope that bread out of it will be OK.
Should be fine! There are no known problems with local flours, either – they are milled from imported wheat, and there isn’t any reason for the mills to adulterate them with additives as far as I can tell. The problem occurs when the bakeries purchase and add additives like flavor enhancer, aroma enhancer, etc., or when they load the bread with jam or custard filling.
So, I go into my son’s kindergarten at 8:00am this morning to ask about any snacks that are sent in from outside companies. Thankfully they make almost everything in their own kitchen, which I’ve inspected before and feel reasonably happy about. That is if you can feel secure at all here any more. The three girls at the front desk seem a little amused as to why I’m concerned. Anyway, I told them no snacks from outside, I’ll bring my own.
Then I’m in the kindergarten where I teach and guess what? Morning snack is a chocolate flavoured mantou, each one individually wrapped in its own plastic wrapping. I try to ask the office staff if they know if the snacks are safe. "應該合格了吧“ is the response.
I do tend to overreact a little in a crisis, but this is insane. These kids are 2 and 3 years old.
Its clear Taiwan needs a complete overhaul of its food and the distribution of food.
Amazing how a few very very unscrupulous individuals who should be convicted of attempted murder, can harm so many. Absolutely incredulously preposterous. Words fail me.
[quote=“Icon”]Chosen tidbits from local news:
2. All talk shows/news programs/anchors of the political spectrum agree that the way things are being done now -checking individual products- is hare-brained. Instead, they should check from the top (distributors)…
- …which BTW have grown from just one company suppliying “DEHP and other Ds enriched emulsifiers” to three… so far…
[/quote]
So . . . if the government hadn’t been checking individual products per #2, would they have found the two other companies that were adding cheap carcinogens to the food supply per #3?
Whose side are these talking heads on?
[quote=“alecinwonderland”]So, I go into my son’s kindergarten at 8:00am this morning to ask about any snacks that are sent in from outside companies. Thankfully they make almost everything in their own kitchen, which I’ve inspected before and feel reasonably happy about. That is if you can feel secure at all here any more. The three girls at the front desk seem a little amused as to why I’m concerned. Anyway, I told them no snacks from outside, I’ll bring my own.
Then I’m in the kindergarten where I teach and guess what? Morning snack is a chocolate flavoured mantou, each one individually wrapped in its own plastic wrapping. I try to ask the office staff if they know if the snacks are safe. "應該合格了吧“ is the response.
I do tend to overreact a little in a crisis, but this is insane. These kids are 2 and 3 years old.[/quote]
Parents trust teachers/school staff are on the ball and know what is “quality tested” and what not. Staff trust the companies. Companies are running free…
The plastic wrapping has, at the end, not been as bad as the contents… though no one has mentioned mantou.
[quote=“shibari”][quote=“Icon”]Chosen tidbits from local news:
2. All talk shows/news programs/anchors of the political spectrum agree that the way things are being done now -checking individual products- is hare-brained. Instead, they should check from the top (distributors)…
- …which BTW have grown from just one company suppliying “DEHP and other Ds enriched emulsifiers” to three… so far…
[/quote]
So . . . if the government hadn’t been checking individual products per #2, would they have found the two other companies that were adding cheap carcinogens to the food supply per #3?
Whose side are these talking heads on?[/quote]
The thing is that the Gov’t could be doing a lot better/faster task in telling people what to avoid if they tract the uptream distributors. As it is, testing what people bring them to test, it is very hit and miss, not reliable. Many items can fall between the tracks, as the tiramisu case showed.
Just by following the trail of who sold to whom -hopefully, catching a few tax hiccups along the way- the tainted items can be traced quickly. As it is now, how many places still have the tainted items on the shelves? Many, as some pretend not to know, some really do not know. The list was at more than 600 items last Friday. It is easier to chase 21 factories and to whom they sold, say 82 essence factories, rathern than the thousands of goods already in the market, one at a time.
Interestingly, the discussion has joined both sides of the political commentartors, both green and blue say more has to be done, and faster. Except, of course, the usual “froth at the mounth, blame it on Chen” ones which we al know…
Ah. That makes sense. Thanks.
An interesting piece at Asia Times atimes.com/atimes/China_Busi … 7Cb01.html
[quote]Unsurprisingly, the revelations have led to panic among Taiwan’s public and government. After an army of inspectors descended on the island’s businesses that produce or sell food stuffs, including clinics and pharmacies, the scale of the scandal has become ever more shocking.
Prosecutors allege that Yu Shen purchased as much as five tonnes of DEHP every month to make flavor and food coloring agents, selling the products to chemical and food processing factories, as well as to bakeries and pastry shops.
A total of 130 food products were confirmed by the Food and Drug Administration to contain DEHP, while 95 manufacturers were found to have used the banned ingredient.
A total of 244 ingredient-manufacturing companies, including several renowned brands, were found to have sourced clouding agents from Yu Sheng and Pin Han Perfumery Co, another emulsifier supplier alleged to have carried out a similar scam.
A total of 40,000 kilograms of juice and jam, 980,000 bottles of tea drinks and more than 2,000 boxes of powdered probiotic products have been recalled.
127.5 barrels of emulsifiers have been confiscated.
In Taipei, the sale of 3,448 products for which businesses could not produce certificates was suspended by inspectors.
The island’s four major convenience store operators - President Chain Store Corp, FamilyMart, OK-Mart and Hi-Life - have pulled all sports drinks from their shelves.
… Companies are claiming their business has shrunk by 20% due to the scandal. Investors are turning away from food stocks and popular night markets, important for the tourism sector, have also seen sales decline significantly.
Taiwanese beverages, jams, syrups, jellies and other products suspected of DEHP contamination have been banned by South Korea and mainland China, and Manila has ordered an extensive recall of Taiwanese-made food and drink products.
…
[/quote]
And why it is treated as not such a big deal…sigh
[quote]Rawnsley, an expert on public diplomacy and soft power, dismissed the notion that Taiwan’s image abroad could suffer anywhere as much as China’s in 2008 due to the melamine scandal.
“China’s scandals have certainly been more prominent because they are Chinese and China garners far more media attention across the world than Taiwan”, he said. The DEHP scandal “will have an effect on the manufacturers but not on Taiwan’s image among the public around the world. The reason for that is it is not news here [in the UK] or elsewhere as far as I can see.”
[/quote]
Well, it’s probably also because of the drastic difference in the numbers of obviously sick, hospitalized and dead victims. Remember that in the melamine scandal, [quote=“Wiki”]By December 2008, nearly 300,000 people had become ill, with more than 50,000 infant hospitalizations and six infant deaths.[/quote]
[quote=“Icon”]Oh, and a final note on milk. In the program Guo Ming Ta Huey -not my favorite, but stay with me, this is interesting- they were actually making the mixes. For milk, you add a lot of water, some coloring, and a few droplets of milk flavoring and voila, a liter of “milk”. Please note that neither the coloring nor the flavoring have gone closer to a cow anywhere else but in a dictionary… Yet the smell, as with artificial fruit colorings, is stronger than the real thing. Try it. Go to any bakery store, they have it right on the shelf, next to the spices.[/quote]Ok. So it’s not UHT. But I guess you have a better grasp of my definition of fresh now 
People thought I was nuts five years ago when I was looking for real milk. My wife sort of understood it when she tried proper Swedish milk. Now she really understands it. Also, as of lately she has started to like proper bread, even shunning the stuff you can buy in supermarkets here in Sweden which is nowhere nearly as bad as the Taiwanese crap. The power of being used to something really is strong, even if it’s crap. It took four years but now she’s finally changing.
I wonder how long the “cleaning” of this mess will take. We’re planing to live six months in Yilan next spring. As it stands right now I don’t want to go, and I’ve really been looking forward to it 
What bothers me most about all this is that LOTS of people knew. They knew for a long time, they knew all the details, and they didn’t say a single word. Storemen. Plant managers. Engineers. Machine operators. Accountants. At one end or the other, labels would have been changed, or chemicals would have been piped into unusual places, funny-looking containers would have arrived, or invoices would have been suspect. And yet … nothing. Not even an anonymous tip-off. I can only think of two reasons for this:
- The people making money from all this are thugs known for swift and violent retribution, who would make sure you ended up floating in a river if you dared to breathe a word about it.
- Nobody wanted their bosses to “lose face”.
Either way, it ain’t pretty.
Something on the news now about antibiotics also having plasticizers in them.
tw.news.yahoo.com/article/url/d/ … 2svr0.html
My son has taken that several times. Can’t take much more of this.
It’s in AUGMENTIN!? Good grief. I can’t take much more either. The cumulative effect of all of this is mind-boggling.
I saw tonight at Ice Monster that they have lab reports posted proving that their products are safe. They also had a series of photos showing how they make their fruit sauces:
- Take fruit
- Peel fruit
- Cut up fruit
- Puree fruit
The End.
Now really…what’s so hard about that?
Oh dear… I have been drinking those shit for 3 months… I hope those guys are having real hard time in jail, with a stick right up their ass!