Puzhou white rice inspection finds no violation; Gaoping Education Bureau will discuss whether to resume meal supply
Kaohsiung's Fuzhou Enterprise was cited by the media for adding "Xianbaoli" antibacterial to school lunches. Kaohsiung Health Bureau testing found that the "Xianbaoli" used by the operator is a food-grade additive, and current regulations allow its addition with no usage limit, so there is no legal violation, and no other preservatives were detected. However, testing is still underway for whether it is mixed with other non-positive-list substances, and the test report will take a while longer.
Kaohsiung City Health Bureau: No preservatives or other additives detected
Fuzhou is a rice-cooking manufacturer that specifically supplies group meal providers and bento shops. Because of the large supply volume, to preventrice cooked earlier from developing "Bacillus cereus", it adds "Xianbaoli" for antibacterial purposes. Although the Food and Drug Administration stated at the first opportunity that "Xianbaoli" is a seasoning agent that can be added in appropriate amounts depending on the situation, and the manufacturer has not violated the law, Kaohsiung City and Pingtung County, out of caution, still completely banned Fuzhou's rice.
The Kaohsiung City Health Bureau urgently sampled Fuzhou's white rice last week, specifically sending it to two units for testing. The substances tested included not only the "Xianbaoli" components cited by the media such as sodium fumarate and sodium acetate (anhydrous), but also the 24 preservatives on the FDA's positive list, as well as other non-standard substances. However, the test report has been slow to come out, leaving the manufacturer and schools unsure of what to do.
The Kaohsiung City Health Bureau said yesterday that all additives on the FDA's positive list have been checked, with no violations found, but since non-standard substances have no specific target substances, they need to be compared one by one against waveform signals, which is very difficult to test, and currently it cannot promise when the report will be released.
The Kaohsiung City Health Bureau said that based on current test results, Fuzhou has not violated the law so far. If it is ultimately confirmed that the manufacturer has not violated the law, they will certainly be given justice; if there is a violation, it will also be strictly dealt with. The FDA said it has not yet received the report from the local health bureau.
Fuzhou: We comply with government regulations and hope the rules are clear
In response, Zhang Zhihao, product research manager at Fuzhou Enterprise, said that the World Health Organization eliminated the usage limit for sodium fumarate more than 20 years ago, Taiwan currently has no regulation either, and white rice in school lunches is not prohibited. The addition is to prevent microbial growth. "If the law or the group meal operator's contract stipulates that it cannot be used, we will certainly comply, and we can even go without adding salt. Currently everything we do is legal, and we hope the government and consumers will judge according to the law."
Lawmaker calls for banning seasoning agents; FDA: It is truly difficult
Since Fuzhou was reported by the media last Wednesday, the factory has almost completely halted operations. Although the current preliminary test results are initially judged to be legal, Xu Peixiang, deputy director of the Pingtung County Education Department, said that the Kaohsiung Health Bureau's test report has not yet been seen, and further judgment is needed. A meeting may be held next week to discuss.
He emphasized that the suspension was because the previous status of the additive was unclear. Pingtung's school lunch contract stipulates that all school lunches must be completed within four hours from preparation to delivery to schools. Fuzhou added it because the holding time was too long, exceeding four hours, so it was suspended first in accordance with this provision. In the future, even if the regulations are clarified to allow the use of additives, if Fuzhou's rice cooking time exceeds four hours, it still would not comply with Pingtung's school lunch regulations.
Lawmaker Tian Chiu-chin proposed in the Legislative Yuan this Monday, demanding that the Ministry of Health and Welfare deliberate within one week that instant meal boxes cannot use food seasonings such as fumaric acid. The FDA is somewhat troubled by this. Zheng Weizhi, section chief of the Food Division, said there is currently no definite direction for discussion. Seasonings and preservatives are different; generally when cooking, seasonings are also added. The key point should be under what circumstances they need to be added and whether they are necessary.