Hsinchu City Health Bureau launches New Year holiday food inspection, calls on businesses to self-manage

The Lunar New Year is approaching. To safeguard the public's food hygiene and safety during the New Year holiday, the Hsinchu City Health Bureau recently launched a special New Year holiday food safety inspection project, conducting environmental hygiene inspections of food businesses within its jurisdiction, including traditional markets, street vendors, supermarkets, general merchandise stores, New Year goods streets, New Year dishes restaurants, online food manufacturers and food logistics operators. In addition, spot checks are being conducted on festive New Year foods, including those from traditional markets and hypermarkets, with random testing of fresh fruits and vegetables, online New Year dishes, hot pot meat slices, shiitake mushrooms and other New Year foods. The test results will be published on the Health Bureau's website (http://dep.hcchb.gov.tw/).

The inspection focuses include: promoting New Year food hygiene and safety, guiding businesses to sell foods with clear sources and labeling, ensuring food is properly stored and not placed on the ground, ensuring food is properly covered, and ensuring storage methods comply with the storage conditions specified by manufacturers. If inspection results involve food labeling or advertising with exaggerated or medicinal claims, businesses will be immediately asked to remove the products from shelves to avoid misleading the public, thereby safeguarding the public's safety and consumer rights when purchasing New Year foods.

Yang Ching-mei, Acting Director of the Hsinchu City Health Bureau, reminds consumers to grasp the "5 major no-buy principles" when purchasing New Year foods, so they can clearly understand how to select hygienic and safe New Year goods: (1) Do not buy those with unclear labeling (2) Do not buy those that are too brightly colored (3) Do not buy those with unusual odors (4) Do not buy those of unknown origin (5) Do not buy those that are damaged. Also, make good use of the eyes, ears, nose and mouth for inspection. In addition, try to choose foods with intact packaging, pay attention to whether the sales environment is clean and hygienic, and regardless of whether the food is fully packaged or sold in bulk, it should be eaten as soon as possible.

At the same time, businesses are also urged to implement self-management to ensure meal quality and product hygiene and safety, and to comply with the provisions of the Act Governing Food Safety and Sanitation, so as to safeguard consumers' food safety.