Thirty percent of white-feather chicken is imported; starting next March, vendors must label the origin of chicken and pork
The Council of Agriculture said yesterday (12/19) that starting in March next year, it will be mandatory for channels such as hypermarkets and supermarkets to label the place of origin on chicken and pork, making it easier for consumers to tell domestic meat from imported meat. Businesses that violate the rule will be treated as committing "adulteration," with a maximum fine of 15 million.
Three out of every ten white-feather chickens on the market are imported
Chiang Wen-chuan, section chief of the Poultry Production Section of the Council of Agriculture's Department of Animal Industry, said that last year Taiwan, China imported 110,000 metric tons of white-feather chicken, more than 90 percent of it from the United States, while domestic white-feather chicken totaled about 280,000 metric tons. That equals three out of every ten white-feather chickens being imported. Imported white-feather chicken is mainly chicken legs, such as the chicken legs commonly seen in boxed lunches on the market.
On the pork side, Chu Ching-cheng, deputy director of the Council of Agriculture's Department of Animal Industry, said domestic pork averages 880,000 metric tons per year, with another 40,000 metric tons of pork imported, mainly from Canada and the United States; about 4% of the pork on the market is imported.
Lee Chun-chin, chief executive officer of the National Animal Industry Foundation, said some businesses use lower-cost imported frozen chicken without labeling the source, leading consumers to mistake it for domestic chilled chicken. "As long as businesses label honestly, the competent authorities have no objection, but if imported meat is passed off as not imported, that hurts domestic chicken."
How are imported chickens detected? The "enzyme test" tells you
In order to truly enforce the law, the Council of Agriculture plans to use an "enzyme test" to confirm the origin of chickens. Lee Chun-chin, chief executive officer of the National Animal Industry Foundation, explained that if a chicken has gone through freezing and then thawing, the mitochondria in the chicken's cells rupture and release enzymes. If the enzyme content is tested and comes out higher than 5.5 units per CC, it can be confirmed that the chicken went through freezing and then thawing and is very likely imported frozen chicken.
Therefore, when distinguishing domestic chicken from imported chicken, enzyme content can serve as the basis. "Especially after freezing at minus ten degrees, it can definitely be detected," Lee Chun-chin said. But he also noted that the technology behind the enzyme test is very mature abroad, while it is only just being promoted domestically; one or two hundred test cases have been carried out so far with notable results, and it is currently being submitted to the Ministry of Economic Affairs as a national standard.
The enzyme test can identify whether a chicken has been frozen, but if domestic chicken has been frozen, will it be mistaken for imported chicken? On this point, Lin Sung-yun, director of the Technical Service Center of the National Animal Industry Foundation, explained, "Whether domestic or imported chicken, as long as it has been frozen and then thawed, the enzyme content will be high. But the enzyme test is mainly aimed at imported white-feather chicken, especially chicken legs, to prevent imported white-feather chicken legs from disrupting the domestic market."
Whether origin labeling for chicken and pork can be fully implemented depends on the government's enforcement effort
At present, channel operators do not fully label product sources, and consumers cannot tell whether chicken or pork is domestic or imported. The Council of Agriculture said that starting March 1 next year, chicken and pork, whether domestic or imported, must be labeled with place of origin; violators can be fined 150,000 under the Regulations for the Production and Verification of Agricultural Products, or fined under the Act Governing Food Safety and Sanitation, with a maximum fine of 15 million.
Wang Chien-pei, secretary-general of the Republic of China Poultry Association, believes that mandatory labeling of chicken origin "of course helps domestic chicken." But he also mentioned that labeling the source of meat is already required by law, and merchants should cooperate as well. "Whether origin labeling can be implemented depends on the government's enforcement and public authority."