Market-sold American beef containing leanness enhancers has tripled in eight years since coming to Taiwan; will revealing the place of origin be enough to withstand US pork grabbing market share?

Text by Yang Yuyun, upstream and downstream reporter. Charts by Lin Yijun, upstream and downstream reporter.

President Tsai Ing-wen announced that beginning next New Year's Day, pork containing ractopamine (hereinafter referred to as leanness enhancers, or "lean pork") will be opened for import, and protests from all sectors have been unceasing. The government stresses that in the future the place of origin will be clearly labeled, and the public can choose for themselves. However, will the public still remember in the future that US pork contains leanness enhancers, and thereby make consumption choices? The answer is not necessarily optimistic.

Domestic imported beef accounts for more than 90 percent of the market. Twelve years ago, the Ma Ying-jeou government opened the import of beef containing leanness enhancers. At present, all market-sold US beef uses the leanness enhancer ractopamine, while New Zealand and Australian beef does not. Although the government requires imported beef to be labeled only with its place of origin, because whether leanness enhancers are used is not labeled, when choosing meat, people mostly