Black-Hearted Businessmen Fined a Mere 30 Million NT

Black-Hearted Businessmen Fined a Mere 30 Million NT
United Daily News editorial (Taipei, Taiwan, ROC)
A Translation
May 27, 2011

A well-known energy drink, advertised as a health food, has been found to contain industrial plasticizers as an additive. Many young people drink it every day. Yet it may damage a person's reproductive system. The main culprit is the Yu Shen Company. It has sold its "black-hearted merchandise" on both sides of the Strait as well as overseas. Yet the government will only be fining it 30 million NT. The public is incredulous.

This toxic beverage incident originated with upstream suppliers, who adulterated the products with additives. The toxins flowed down the supply chain, spreading everywhere. Ordinary people everywhere have been poisoned. The extent of the damage is difficult to estimate. It has affected not merely beverage manufacturers on Taiwan. It has harmed the image of products from Taiwan in general. It is a serious threat to the health of consumers. Supermarkets, superstores, and big box stores have taken them off the shelves. But this addresses only certain brands. We must get to the bottom of the problem, Some eating establishments add illegal plastizers to their drinks. Local health departments have a great deal of hard work ahead of them.

Prosecutors estimate that the Yu Sheng Company has been adding the illegal plastizer DEHP to their emulsifiers for five years, This is when the "sports drinks" and "health foods" era began. Motivated by greed, many beverage manufacturers hoped to reduce costs. They manufactured toxic beverages and are now paying the price. Not only have their reputations been destroyed, consumers have been harmed. These businessmen committed these horrible crimes. This is not something disclaimers that "We were victims too" can gloss over. Too many businessmen were irresponsible. Consumers should also consider getting back to nature and eating plainly. They should stop believing the myth of commercially packaged health.

One thing is puzzling. The Department of Health has ruled that foods may not contain additives such as phthalates. Then why are there so many known manufacturers of this illegal raw material? Why didn't the Department of Health discover this problem five years ago? Is testing by health officials nothing more than a formality? Is it nothing more than an obstacle to get out of the way?

This is a difficult question. But a heroine has already provided us with the answer. A Department of Health inspector named Yang has been relentless in her pursuit of the truth. When she tested an unrelated weight loss beverage, she discovered chemicals that should not have been there, After repeated analysis, she traced the problem to the suppliers of the emulsifiers. She turned the evidence over to prosecutors. Only then did they discover that even more beverages were affected. This bold and painstaking heroine deserves public plaudits. But she was a lone individual, surrounded by a callous bureaucracy that routinely engages in pro forma ritual, and by civil servants with no sense of responsibility. Food and Drug Administration Chief Secretary Luo Chi-fang technician praised this woman, who is also a mother, saying that "She could have pretended not to see. But she was unafraid to make waves." The words "pretended not to see" sums up why a toxic beverage could remain undiscovered for five years before being exposed.

This heroine did not expose only "black-hearted" business tycoons. She also exposed a motley crew of business opportunists. She made it impossible for indolent officials to run for cover. How many questionable products were submitted to the Food and Drug Administration for inspection over the past five years? Just one aggressive and responsible inspector would have been enough to identify the problems in advance, and reduce the number of people harmed. Given such omissions, the Department of Health and the Executive Yuan cannot "pretend not to see."

Due to indolence, food inspections have not improved. Food regulations have lagged behind, also to the point of absurdity. Recently CAS approved meat products that were part of school lunches, were found to contain banned substances. The Department of Health merely fined the culprits six to 30 million NT. The current toxic beverage incident has impacted a wide range of food products. Its impact is far-reaching. Yet according to the Food Sanitation Law, the government can only impose a maximum fine of 30 million NT. The law is a dinosaur. It is totally inadequate to deter "black-hearted" businessmen. Still less it is able to act as an effective sanction. How can it possibly safeguard public health?

The current toxic beverage incident is no less harmful than the Mainland contaminated milk powder incident from three years ago. In the tainted milk incident, the two people who manufactured the melamine contaminated milk powder were sentenced to death. Executives who manufactured the Sanlu milk powder were also given heavy sentences. By contrast, the government on Taiwan, which boasts of its democracy and rule of law, is imposing administrative penalties of 30 million NT on those who endangered public health. Is human life on Taiwan that cheap? Or are food laws on Taiwan still in the Stone Age, unable to catch up with social change? The situation is truly serious. If government agencies fail to act, who will assume responsibility for government compensation in the aftermath?

The devil in the details. The current toxic beverage incident tells the story. So many beverages advertised as healthy and natural, in fact contain toxic chemical substances. Consumers are tricked into putting these substances into their bodies. The heroine who exposed the evil-doers has earned our admiration. But the government's negligence has earned our contempt.

這種黑心商人，只能罰卅萬？
【聯合報╱社論】 2011.05.27


標榜健康、活力的知名運動飲料和養生食品，被查出添加了工業用塑化劑來調味；許多青少年天天飲用的，竟是可能損及終身生殖能力的「毒飲料」。禍首的昱伸公司，將黑心商品賣遍兩岸甚至遠及海外，卻傳出政府只能依法處以卅萬罰款，讓人簡直不能置信。

這次毒飲料事件，源頭出在上游起雲劑供應商摻假，毒源順著各種問題產品的供銷鏈網絡四下擴散，汙染範圍遍及各地市井小民，損害至今難以估計。它影響的不只是台灣飲料廠商的營運，還衝擊台灣整體商品的形象，尤其是嚴重威脅消費者的健康。目前超市、超商、賣場都採取了大規模下架措施，但這只能針對品牌廠商；若要深究夜市、一般餐飲店自行以違法塑化劑調製的飲品，地方衛生單位恐怕還有更艱鉅的工作要面對和執行。

檢調估計，昱伸公司在起雲劑中添加非法的塑化劑ＤＥＨＰ已長達五年，那正是所謂運動飲料、健康食品開始大行其道的年代。許多飲料廠商為了貪求降低成本，掉入了這個自食惡果的毒飲料陷阱，不僅聲譽受創，也危害了消費者。業者犯下這麼可怕的錯誤，絕不是一句「我們也是受害者」即可輕鬆帶過。而面對這麼多不負責任的業者，消費者也該省思回歸自然、單純的養生之道，不要再迷信商業包裝的健康幻覺。

令人疑惑的是，既然衛生署規定食品中不得添加這種名為「鄰苯二甲酸酯」的物質，為何有那麼多知名廠商使用了此一不合法原料，而衛生署在長達五年之中卻從未發現問題？難道衛生部門的抽驗都只是官樣文章，應付了事？

這個大哉問，那位女英雄其實已經給了我們答案。鍥而不捨追出這樁大案的衛生署楊姓檢驗員，是在檢驗一件與飲料無關的減肥產品時，發現了不該出現在食品中的化學物質，經反覆分析，查出問題出在起雲劑供應商；交由檢察官追查，才發現飲料商品是受害更大的一群。這位膽大心細的女英雄，值得國人為她喝采；但這麼一個令人敬仰的身影，卻也映襯出行政體系中存在更多行禮如儀、毫無責任感的公務員。食品藥物局主祕羅吉方在稱許這位媽媽技正時說，「她可以裝作沒看到，但她不嫌麻煩」；這句「裝作沒看到」，正是毒飲料可以潛伏五年才被揭發的祕密所在。

這位女英雄，揭發的不只是一個大黑心商人，也暴露了一群企業貪小便宜的嘴臉，更讓行政怠惰的問題無所遁形。試想，過去五年送給食藥局檢驗的問題產品不知凡幾，只要有一位檢驗員夠積極負責，就可以提前發現問題，減少許多民眾受害。對於這樣的疏漏，行政院和衛生署不應該「裝作沒看到」。

除了食品檢驗因循泄沓，我們的食品立法嚴重落後，也到了荒謬可笑的地步。日前供應學童營養午餐的ＣＡＳ肉品被查出含有禁藥，衛生局依法只能處以六到卅萬的罰款；這次毒飲料事件危害範圍如此之廣、影響如此深遠，依「食品衛生管理法」，政府依舊只能處以最高卅萬元的罰款。如此笨拙的恐龍法令，根本不足以嚇阻非法投機的黑心廠商，遑論作出有效且相稱的制裁，又如何能維護民眾健康？

這次毒飲料事件，危害程度不下於三年前的大陸毒奶粉事件。在毒奶事件中，源頭用三聚氰胺製造毒奶粉的兩人被判處死刑，製造三鹿奶粉的高層也被判重刑。相形之下，號稱民主法治的台灣，對危害公眾健康的人只能處以卅萬行政罰，是台灣的人命太廉價？還是台灣的食品法令還停留在石器時代，根本追不上現實社會變化？事態嚴重至此，如果行政部門不積極因應，一旦日後要負擔國賠責任，誰來善後？

魔鬼藏在細節裡，從這次毒飲料事件觀察，真是所言不虛。那麼多標榜健康、天然的飲料，卻夾帶著有毒化學物質，瞞天過海地進入消費者的體內。那位揪出魔鬼的女英雄誠然可敬，但政府把關不力的疏懈，卻教人三嘆！