Traceable pig farm homemade lard, strictly controlled from feed to production and processing

In the wake of the Chang Guann tainted lard scandal, many people have lost confidence in the quality of commercially sold lard and have turned to buying pork fat at the market to "fry their own lard at home." But what if life is too busy and you have no time to fry your own lard? Choosing pork and lard that carry traceable agricultural product certification, produced in an integrated operation that runs from pig farming through slaughter and processing, with strict controls and a clear origin, is also a good option.

For this report, NewsMarket reporters interviewed two pig farms that have obtained traceable agricultural product certification: Sanjiu Food Company in central Taiwan, China, and Dongbao Ranch in Neipu, Pingtung, to introduce how these two different pig-farming models manage raising and processing quality and produce pork and lard products that consumers can trust.

Sanjiu: Source control starts with feed

Safeguarding food safety: the government must strengthen inspections, and businesses must practice conscience and self-discipline

Faced with a string of food safety storms, how should they be confronted and resolved? The two businesses offered different answers. Xie Xuzhong of Dongbao Ranch said that in Pingtung, where the gutter oil scandal broke out this time, government agencies have been too passive in their routine safeguarding efforts. He believes the authorities with jurisdiction should proactively conduct inspections at irregular intervals, strengthen risk control, and not wait until something goes wrong to inspect.

Xie Xuzhong stressed that the government should carry out inspections at irregular intervals as a matter of routine, rather than showing up only after something goes wrong. The government should also take the initiative and be proactive, not treat pig farming as a dirty business, actively help pig farmers improve their production environment, and actively promote CAS certification for processing plants, so as to drive the growth of pig farmers in Pingtung as a whole.

Besides the government needing to face the problem squarely and actively improve things, Zeng Guimei of Sanjiu Food stressed that owners' self-management, conscience and sense of morality are the most important. She said that whether it is ISO or production traceability, these systems must not be allowed to become a mere formality. Since you want to do product quality control and traceability, you have to do it properly yourself, not just to cope with or pass regulatory requirements, and then stop doing whatever the regulations do not require, because that loses the meaning of certification. Because of this philosophy and commitment, even though the company has been operating for eight years and is still losing money, it still requires employees to produce according to standards and is unwilling to lower the bar for that reason.

During the interviews with these two businesses, the words the reporters heard and that were emphasized most often were "conscience and morality." They both stressed that no matter how much testing is done, there will always be legal loopholes or places with no testing standards to exploit; no matter how rigorous production traceability is, there will always be places beyond the reach of regulations where businesses must impose their own requirements. The conscience and self-discipline of businesses are perhaps the real formula and antidote for safeguarding food safety.