Genetically modified corn and tofu withdrawn from schools, rare bipartisan consensus reached
A rare cross-party consensus! Today (the 30th), the Legislative Yuan's Education and Culture Committee conducted a preliminary review of the draft amendment to the School Health Act. Both parties agreed that genetically modified raw materials and foods should be banned from elementary and middle school nutritional lunches, though soybean salad oil and soy sauce are classified as highly processed products and are not within the scope of the ban.
Meal catering businesses said that if tofu is served twice a week, the cost would increase by an average of 0.5 to 1 yuan per meal. Civic groups advocating for non-GMO food said they "welcome the move," but the government must also ensure that businesses can purchase "truly non-GMO" ingredients in order to fully realize the good intentions of the amendment.
School Health Act First Reading: GM Corn Kernels, Tofu and More Out of Schools
Today (the 30th), the Legislative Yuan's Education and Culture Committee conducted a preliminary review of a partial amendment to the School Health Act, targeting Article 23, Paragraph 1, and adding language such as "prohibiting the use of fresh ingredients and primary processed products containing genetically modified organisms."
In other words, if the bill passes its third reading, nutritional lunches at high schools (inclusive) and below will no longer be allowed to use genetically modified fresh ingredients and primary processed products, such as GM corn kernels, GM tofu, GM dried tofu, GM tofu skin, GM soy milk, etc.
Chen Hsueh-yu, Director-General of the Ministry of Education's Department of Comprehensive Planning, said that in the future, the ministry will work with the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) under the Ministry of Health and Welfare to study and define the scope of "fresh ingredients" and "primary processed products," and will adopt a positive list approach so that meal catering businesses can clearly know which ingredients are allowed and which are not.
DPP Legislator Lin Shu-fen said, "These foods carry relatively higher risks, so they must be excluded." However, products such as soybean salad oil and soy sauce have their proteins already broken down during the manufacturing process and carry lower risks, so they will not be excluded for now.
Civic Groups: We Welcome the Move, But Manufacturers Must Also Be Able to Buy "Safe Ingredients"
Huang Chia-lin, co-founder of the Campus Lunch GMO-Free Campaign, said she "welcomes the move."
From what she understands, many businesses do not oppose importing non-GMO soybeans; the problem is "who can process them into tofu and dried tofu? And who can they sell to?"
And with Taiwan, China needing to supply 2.5 million school lunches per day, if such a massive amount of ingredients must all be switched to non-GMO tofu, dried tofu and tofu skin, "it would greatly drive domestic production demand, and businesses would be willing to import."
"Even after the law is enacted, spot checks and tracking will still be needed." Huang Chia-lin said that in the production chain from ingredient imports, processors, meal caterers, to restaurant kitchens, a complete traceability system is needed to prevent unscrupulous operators from deceiving and committing fraud. Just as the FDA and health bureaus have found during market inspections that some products labeled as non-GMO vegetarian ingredients actually contained GM components; therefore, even if regulations require meal caterers to comply, "how to ensure they can buy correct and safe ingredients is also a problem."
Will Lunch Costs Rise? Industry Estimates an Average Increase of 1 Yuan Per Meal; Education Ministry: We Respect Parents' Wishes
But does this mean nutritional lunch costs will increase? According to Lin Shu-fen's calculations, "meal caterers would only see costs increase by 2 to 3 yuan per meal, not too much." However, this point was not discussed at the Legislative Yuan today, and may be addressed in the next session.
Liu Hsiao-ching, a dietitian at Tung Hsien Company, which operates school meal catering, said that soy products have different price differences depending on the soybean content after processing.
If calculated based on the Ministry of Education's recommendation of serving soy products twice a week, for the same 4.5 kg of firm tofu, GM tofu costs about 80 yuan, while non-GMO costs 105 yuan; averaged across each meal, the cost increase is about 0.5 to 1 yuan.
"But tofu is an important source of protein besides eggs and meat," so the frequency is usually higher than the Ministry of Education recommends, meaning costs could increase further. And since most schools have already raised meal fees this academic year, there are currently no plans for further price increases.
However, many market spot checks by the FDA and health bureaus have also made businesses worry about buying products labeled as non-GMO that are actually GM. "So we also conduct an outsourced random survey once each semester and require manufacturers to provide batch-by-batch inspection reports for incoming goods."
As for whether the Ministry of Education will allow manufacturers to raise nutritional lunch fees, Liao Cheng-hui, an inspector with the K-12 Education Administration who attended the meeting, emphasized, "It still depends on whether parents can accept it."
She said the current School Health Act, which has not yet been amended, already contains provisions encouraging meal caterers to use excellent and safe ingredients; the amendment simply raises the standards higher. But in some remote and offshore island areas, because of "higher shipping costs," if there are also restrictions on purchasing, there may be voices calling for price increases.
"But whether prices rise still depends on what parents think; there must be sufficient communication, and we will certainly take care of disadvantaged children." Liao Cheng-hui said.
High Cross-Party Consensus, Awaiting Second Reading and Party Caucus Negotiation
The bill has currently completed its first reading preliminary review. Lin Shu-fen expressed optimism that the two parties have a high degree of consensus, and there should not be too much negotiation or revision.
As for universities, since they do not provide nutritional lunches, they are not within the jurisdiction of the School Health Act and are therefore not affected by this wave.