By DPA,
Taipei : Taiwan will send a team of experts to China to probe the tainted baby food formula crisis as an unknown amount of tainted diary products have been exported to Taiwan, premier Liu Chao-shiuan said Tuesday.
“The Department of Health (DOH) will send a team of food safety experts and doctors to China to probe the tainted powdered milk incident and gather data to help the Cabinet deal with the crisis,” he told parliament.
“Following the model of the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA), we will set up a better system of food safety inspection,” he said.
DOH deputy director Song Yan-jen said the team will fly to China in October or November.
“It will visit factories which produce food ingredients, to check their food production procedure and food safety standards,” he said.
Taiwan has imported 25 tons of tainted baby formula made by China’s Sanlu Group and an unknown amount of tainted diary products made by other Chinese companies, but they have not caused any sickness or death among Taiwan consumers.
Taiwan has suspended the import of Chinese diary products after detecting the chemical melamine in coffee creamer, corn soup, milk tea and bread across the island.
“The tainted milk powder incident will be the top priority in the semi-official cross-strait talks scheduled to be held in Taipei in late October,” Mainland Affairs Council Chairwoman Lai Shin-yuan said.