Only three out of 298 health food products passed human trials; animals innocently used as test subjects; animal rights group calls for regulatory amendments

Do "health foods" claiming to have "health benefits" actually need to pass "human trials"? The Taiwan Animal Society Research Association held a press conference today (the 29th), pointing out that only three out of 298 health food products in the country underwent human trials to confirm their efficacy, while the remaining seven out of ten products claimed health benefits based solely on animal experiment results. Furthermore, the Ministry of Health and Welfare has not even required that safety testing and health benefit testing laboratories for health foods comply with "Good Laboratory Practice for Non-clinical Laboratory Studies" (abbreviated as GLP).

Chen Yu-min, Deputy Chief Executive of the Taiwan Animal Society Research Association, questioned how health foods that have only undergone animal experiments can prove their efficacy is actually useful for humans. If laboratories are not required to comply with GLP standards, how can the validity of their testing methods be confirmed? "Unnecessary animal experiments are animal cruelty. Rigorous animal experiment design is not only harmful to animals but may also cause harm to humans."

Food and Drug Administration: Will review international standards before further deliberation

The Taiwan Animal Society Research Association calls on the Food and Drug Administration to amend the "Methods for Health Benefit Assessment of Health Foods," abolish animal experiments for all "efficacy assessments," and replace them with "human trials" to ensure efficacy is truly effective and that laboratory mice will not suffer from animal experiments; safety testing should also prioritise "non-living animal" alternative methods.

In response to the appeal from the Taiwan Animal Society Research Association, Lin Chin-fu only responded that the Food and Drug Administration will not commit to amending the dual-track system, but it has heard the voices from outside and will refer to international standards before further deliberation.