Liuying Fresh Milk Has No Fresh Milk Label, Prints Its Own "NTU Oversight" Sticker; Department of Animal Science and Technology Demands It Be Removed

The dairy farmer self-produced and self-sold fresh milk brand "Liuying Fresh Milk" recently carried packaging stating "Professional oversight by the Department of Animal Science and Technology, National Taiwan University," advertising that "fresh milk is even more reassuring." In response, Chen Ming-ju, head of the NTU Department of Animal Science and Technology, said that professors in the department had signed a cooperation agreement with the other party to help improve pasture management and cattle care, but NTU could not possibly vouch for the quality of the other party's products. "We are not an inspection company. This is an abuse of NTU's name. Their approach is really quite improper."

In addition, Liuying Fresh Milk has not obtained the "Fresh Milk Label" issued by the Council of Agriculture, which has raised consumer doubts. Wang Chung-shu, chief of the Livestock Production Section of the Council of Agriculture's Department of Animal Industry, said that Gaojian Foods, the dairy factory commissioned by Liuying Fresh Milk for processing, had previously had issues with delayed labeling of production or expiration dates, and was therefore stripped of its Fresh Milk Label, and has not yet regained approval. Liuying Fresh Milk stated that after learning of Gaojian's problems, it had already sought cooperation with other processing plants.

Tainan Dairy Farmers' Cooperative and Taiwan Pasture Launch "Liuying Fresh Milk"; NTU Denies Guaranteeing Product Quality

Council of Agriculture: Liuying Fresh Milk Has Not Obtained the Fresh Milk Label; It Was Revoked Because the Commissioned Processing Plant Had a Poor Record

In addition, Liuying Fresh Milk has not obtained the "Fresh Milk Label" issued by the Council of Agriculture. Taiwan Pasture stated on its Facebook fan page, "The series of fresh milk products launched by Taiwan Pasture do not have the Fresh Milk Label, which has long been questioned by consumers and is a predicament that Taiwan Pasture deeply regrets and has always been committed to resolving."

Regarding how to apply for the Fresh Milk Label, according to Point 2 of the "Directions for the Issuance and Use of the Fresh Milk Label": "Domestic fresh milk manufacturers that use domestic raw milk as a raw material, hold a dairy factory registration certificate, and have contracted raw milk may apply to use this label."

Taiwan Pasture believes that under the current Fresh Milk Label rules, only dairy factories that purchase raw milk from dairy farmers can apply for the label. "Taiwan Pasture, which is entirely a farmers' organization, even though it has a raw milk source but does not own a dairy factory, is deemed by the Council of Agriculture as not meeting the qualifications to apply for the Fresh Milk Label."

Wang Chung-shu, chief of the Livestock Production Section of the Council of Agriculture's Department of Animal Industry, said that the reason Liuying Fresh Milk did not obtain the Fresh Milk Label is that Gaojian Foods, the dairy factory it commissioned for processing, had previously had issues with delayed labeling of production or expiration dates, and therefore Gaojian was stripped of its Fresh Milk Label and has not yet regained approval.

Council of Agriculture: The Processing Plant's Quality Control Methods Must First Be Confirmed Before the Fresh Milk Label Can Be Issued

Wang Chung-shu said that the Fresh Milk Label has been in operation for nearly thirty years, using an "equal quantities in and out, pasted one by one" approach, tallying the amount of raw milk provided by dairy farmers and the product volume of dairy processing plants, and issuing an equal quantity of Fresh Milk Labels. On the one hand, this prevents dairy processing plants from adding milk powder and replacing raw milk with reconstituted milk; on the other hand, through the Fresh Milk Label, operators are guided to maintain product quality.

Currently, 97% of dairy plants in Taiwan have applied for the Fresh Milk Label. Regarding fresh milk that has not yet obtained the Fresh Milk Label, Wang Chung-shu believes that fresh milk without the label is not necessarily bad and can still be self-produced and self-sold, but the Council of Agriculture cannot confirm the quality control methods of the dairy farmers and dairy processing plants, and therefore cannot endorse such fresh milk.

Wang Chung-shu said that Liuying Fresh Milk does not have its own dairy processing plant, and the processing plant it previously cooperated with had quality control problems. If it now commissions multiple dairy processing plants, the Council of Agriculture cannot tally the amount of raw milk, nor can it determine which processing plant today's raw milk will go to, so the operator is simply asked to do a good job of quality control itself.

Food safety scandals over the past few years have made consumers doubtful about major dairy manufacturers, but Chen Ming-ju suggests that small dairy farmers still need to maintain a certain ability to control product quality, for example through inspection reports from testing companies, oversight via the Fresh Milk Label, or other means. Regarding operators using NTU's name to endorse their products, she stressed repeatedly, "NTU cannot possibly provide comprehensive oversight for dairy farmers' products. Selling fresh milk may require better methods. Using NTU's name to provide a guarantee is really not OK."

Liuying Fresh Milk: Relevant Stickers Have Been Removed; In Pursuit of High Quality, It Is Willing to Accept Inspection

Huang Hsiao-an, business manager of the Tainan City Dairy Cattle Milk Production Cooperative, responded that the dairy farmers producing "Liuying Fresh Milk" have a cooperation agreement with the NTU Department of Animal Science and Technology in order to improve pasture management standards. The earlier stickers reading "NTU oversight" were applied "perhaps without sufficiently thorough consideration. When we learned that NTU had concerns, we immediately removed them from shelves. Currently these stickers cannot be seen in the sales channels, but the cooperation plan with the NTU Department of Animal Science and Technology continues and has not been interrupted."

As for why it has not obtained the Fresh Milk Label, Huang Hsiao-an said that the Dairy Cattle Milk Production Cooperative applied for the Fresh Milk Label, but the Council of Agriculture required that the raw milk be contracted to a dairy processing plant. "We originally established a farmers' organization precisely to build our own brand and sales channels. How could we contract the raw milk to a dairy processing plant? We are willing to accept all audits by the competent authority, but we still cannot obtain the assistance and help of the relevant agencies."

Regarding the commissioned dairy processing plant, Huang Hsiao-an said that Liuying Fresh Milk previously commissioned Gaojian Foods for processing, but when it learned that Gaojian could not meet quality control requirements, it stopped cooperating and has now commissioned Sanfu Foods for dairy processing.