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Lack of detailed labels keeps Taiwanese consumers in the dark in starch scandal (2013/05/30)

Sensational coverage of the industrial starch scare has left consumers worried if they’ve consumed products tainted with maleic anhydride. But the John Tung Foundation said Thursday that most labels on foods with starch additives won’t be of any help to conscientious consumers.

These breads from convenience stores all contain modified starch. But if consumers want to find out more about their chemical composition, they’ll be out of luck. On the breads’ labels, all you find are the general terms “modified starch,” “chemically modified food starch,” or “modified food starch.”

Even the label on McDonald’s’ sweet and sour sauce is unclear, and the John Tung Foundation is not happy about it.

Hsu Hui-yu
John Tung Foundation
According to existing regulations in the Act Governing Food Sanitation, the term “modified starch” does not exist. Modified starch is not normal language. The labels should show what kind of starch the products actually contain.

The Department of Health has approved 21 kinds of chemically modified starches, including bleached starch and oxidized starch. The Food Sanitation Act requires food processors to clearly list the kind of starch they’ve added. But Hsu Hui-yu, who heads the John Tung Foundation’s Nutrition Section, says the government is not enforcing the laws it has enacted.

Hsu Hui-yu
John Tung Foundation
Up to now, our executive agencies have been too lax (in enforcing the law).

Taiwan’s Food and Drug Administration says that if contents are not clearly shown on labels, the product’s maker can be fined up to NT$200,000. It has asked government agencies to step up checks of products to make sure they’re properly labeled.