Taiwan ups penalties in response to food contamination crisis

Jun 10, 2011, 13:25 GMT

Taipei - Taiwan on Friday sought to contain a snowballing toxic food crisis by raising the penalties for people caught producing contaminated goods, to a maximum seven-year prison sentence.

In future, offenders also face maximum fines of 10 million Taiwan dollars (3.4 million US dollars) if consumers are made ill by tainted food or drink, parliament officials said. The current fine is 300,000 Taiwan dollars.

Taiwan is grappling with a food scandal after some manufacturers were found to be adding a carcinogenic industrial plasticizer, diethylhexylphthalate (DEHP), to foods and drinks.

Premier Wu Den-yih said the scandal had not only hurt consumers, but also shocked the world.

'On behalf of the government, I apologise to the public for not tracking down on the illegal practice soon enough,' Wu told parliament after the law was revised.

DEHP, which serves as a clouding agent, is commonly used in fruit jelly, yogurt mix powder, juices and other drinks, as well as some nutritional supplements in Taiwan.

While low doses of DEHP are generally safe, high doses or prolonged exposure could retard the development of boys' growth, affect fertility and increase toxicity to kidneys.

Taiwanese authorities have recalled millions of food and drink products found to have been tainted since May 23.

As a result, many Taiwanese have stopped buying bread, coffee or yoghurt from stores, preferring to make their own or simply eat rice and drink water.