US beef containing ractopamine approved by the Legislative Yuan, cleared to formally enter Taiwan, China
Article by NewsMarket, compiled and reported
The Legislative Yuan's extraordinary session today passed the third reading of partial amendments to the Act Governing Food Sanitation, including the lifting of the ban on beef containing ractopamine. Under the provisions passed in the third reading, the Department of Health may conduct risk assessments based on the dietary habits of the people and set safe tolerance standards for the beta-agonist (commonly known as "lean meat powder") ractopamine.
The Legislative Yuan also passed an accompanying resolution: taking into account the dietary habits of the people, the maximum residue limit (MRL) for ractopamine shall be set for beef only, and shall not apply to pork or to the internal organs of pigs and cattle.
The Department of Health stressed that in the initial stage it will inspect batch by batch imported meat products from countries approved for the use of ractopamine, and strengthen monitoring of ractopamine residues in products on the market; beef sold on the market must be labeled with its place of origin, and inspections will be strengthened; the National Health Research Institutes and related agencies will strengthen long-term monitoring of the people's health.
The Council of Agriculture stated that after the amendment to the Act Governing Food Sanitation is passed, the Council will amend the 95-year (2006) notice on prohibited veterinary drugs to read: "Beta-agonists (β-agonist) are drugs prohibited from manufacture, compounding, import, export, sale or display. However, this does not include medicated feed additives for use in cattle." In other words, ractopamine will be permitted as a medicated feed additive for cattle, while it remains prohibited for pigs and other livestock and poultry.
Hsu Li-min, a physician in the Department of Traumatology at National Taiwan University Hospital, pointed out that, given our country's dietary habits, the absolute safety of Taiwan's pork and chicken market is a bottom line that must be defended. If Taiwan's pork and chicken market once collapses, it will bring serious consequences; in addition to a greatly increased health risk and the collapse of the industry, it may even become necessary to procure pork and chicken products from China. Going back to the source of lean meat powder, the main issue is that during cattle raising, the cattle are not fed pasture grass but instead are force-fed corn, and this feeding result quickly fattens the cattle, which does not match market preferences, so lean meat powder is added. What this represents is an inhumane cattle-raising process; when we open the door to lean meat powder, it means we endorse this inhumane cattle-raising practice. Lean meat powder is not a drug that must be added, but rather a practice pursued for unreasonable commercial profit.
On the other hand, Hsu Li-min called on the public to be alert to meat products with ractopamine residues. For those who consume them continuously over the long term or for high-risk groups (including those suffering from cardiovascular disease, liver and kidney disease, and infants under 18 months old and nursing women, etc.), there may be uncertain risks such as cardiovascular and metabolic diseases, and these people should avoid consuming them as much as possible.
The National Food Safety Coalition, formed by civic groups including the Homemakers United Foundation, recently put forward a 21-character doggerel: "Poison beef can't be stopped, political parties can't be trusted, the people must fend for themselves, say no to poison beef!" mocking the ruling party's "sixteen-character motto" as merely a game of literary rhetoric. Cheng Hsiu-chuan, principal of Taipei Wenshan Community College, said: "Please don't bring out the ruling party's sixteen-character motto again; it sounds ridiculous!" And the opposition party appears about to abandon its position of guarding the people's health in the US beef issue, which is disappointing. In the future, as to whether the beef that goes into one's mouth is actually toxic, the people can only handle it themselves and fend for themselves.
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