Japan's Snow Brand Provides a Precedent for Taiwan's Food Safety

Japan's Snow Brand Provides a Precedent for Taiwan's Food Safety 
United Daily News editorial (Taipei, Taiwan, ROC)
A Translation
October 14, 2014

Executive Summary: President Ma has vowed not to allow blackhearted merchants to get away with their crimes. But people can detect no real determination on the part of the government. The government should take Japan's experience as a warning. It should strike while the iron is hot. It should totally revamp the Republic of China's food safety mechanisms, allowing Taiwan to enter a genuine "food safety" era.

Full Text Below:

Food is a human being's first requirement. Food safety reflects a nation's level of civilization. It is also the basis of trust between the government and the people. Recently blackhearted merchants foisted rancid cooking oil on the Taiwan public. Many upstream cooking oil plants closed down overnight. Downstream food manufacturers were also affected. The scandal undermined Taiwan's image as a Mecca for gourmets. Food safety depends on strict enforcement and effective management, as well as morality and self-discipline.

Wave upon wave of food safety crises have erupted in recent years. They have revealed government dereliction in food safety. The division of responsibilities between the central and local government remains unclear, The laws have failed to keep up with the times and with technological progress. Under the circumstances, government oversight is confined to food stores. It does not apply to manufacturing plants or raw materials. Clearly Taiwan is still at the stage of "food hygiene" and has yet to enter the era of "food safety."

Many old line cooking oil companies were involved in the scandal. Clearly industry self-regulation resulted in giant loopholes. The industry acted as both player and referee in food safety. It reduced the GMP system to pro forma ritual. Many unscrupulous vendors made illicit profits by forging quality labels. The government failed in its role as gatekeeper.

Japan's experience in this respect is highly illuminating. Japan has long been extremely strict about food safety, In 1990 Japan experienced an entire series of food safety scandals. Japan endured a series of painful ordeals. For example: The Hokkaido Meat Hope Company was suspected of adding cheaper beef and pork into its products. They were packaged as a high quality beef and sold at a profit. Expired Hokkaido "White Lovers" brand chocolate was repackaged and sold to consumers. The upscale Japanese restaurant Senba Good Omen, recycled leftover food by repackaging it and selling it as fresh. As we can see, unscrupulous merchants are the same everywhere.

The factor that ultimately forced the Japanese government to amend its Food Sanitation Law was the Snow Brand Milk poisoning outbreak. Snow Brand Milk is a famous company, with milk plants located in Hokkaido. In late March of that year, a power blackout lasted three hours. Power was restored and production resumed. But the factory failed to discard raw milk infected with Staphylococcus during the power outage. Instead the milk was turned into low-fat milk products and sold. As many as 15,000 people in the Kansai region were poisoned. This was Japan's more serious case of food poisoning since WWII. The Snow Brand Company, with its 75 year history, became the target of a public boycott, and was forced to declare bankruptcy.

This event motivated the Japanese government to scrap the outdated Food Sanitation Law and author the Food Safety Basic Law. Japan officially entered the "food safety" era. The Food Safety Basic Law emphasizes oversight over the entire process, from the field to the table. It is preventative, transparent, and adaptable in nature.

One. It is preventative. It raised the status of government agencies in charge of food safety. Former departments were promoted to the level of cabinet offices. Cabinet Offices are equivalent to the Republic of China's Yuans. They were established under the Food Safety Commission, which consists of seven independent members. They include the Bureau of Investigation and the Bureau of Affairs. The Bureau of Affairs includes a Safety Assessment Division, a Message Announcement Division, and an Emergency Response Division. The seven members exercise independent powers. Their primary responsibility is food safety risk assessment and the prevention of food safety crises.

Two. Take the matter of transparency. Horizontal linkages between relevant ministries have been increased. Among the various ministries in Japan, the MHLW and Ministry of Agriculture are food safety-related. The MHLW is responsible for safety inspections of food additives. The Ministry of Agriculture is responsible for the safety of agricultural and aquatic products. The Food Safety Basic Law expressly stipulates that these two ministries must communicate with each other and promote interagency cooperation. Their main responsibilities are the management of food safety risks and the provision of information.

Three. Take the matter of adaptability. The Food Safety Basic Law is not static. Since its inception in 2003, it has been amended 15 times. For example, In 2008, the The Senba Good Omen scandal erupted. The restaurant served inferior quality, falsely labeled beef and leftover dishes to patrons. The law was amended to establish a food safety traceability system. Its purpose was to comprehensively and scientifically monitor the entire food processing chain. This would ensure the timely discovery of problems, the accurate identification of causes, the recall of problematic food, and the promotion of transparency in food safety. In other words, Japan's food safety laws changed with the times.

Japan's experience provides us with an example of comprehensive monitoring, from the field to the table, preventive measures, transparency of information, and laws that keep pace with the times. These measures curb blackhearted merchants and restore public confidence in food safety.

President Ma has vowed not to allow blackhearted merchants to get away with their crimes. But people can detect no real determination on the part of the government. The government should take Japan's experience as a warning. It should strike while the iron is hot. It should totally revamp the Republic of China's food safety mechanisms, allowing Taiwan to enter a genuine "food safety" era.

日本的雪印，台灣的頂新
【聯合報╱社論】
2014.10.14 02:07 am

民以食為天，食品安全是一個國家文明程度的體現，也是政府與人民之間信賴的基礎。但近期台灣爆發連串的黑心油事件，不僅許多上游油廠一夕崩毀，也讓下游食品業慘遭株連，同時重創了台灣小吃王國的形象。食品安全除了依賴政府的嚴格執法及有效管理之外，必須仰賴企業的道德自律，別無良方。

從近年一波波食安危機看，我們發現政府不僅對於食品安全的把關不嚴，中央與地方政府的監督權責分工不清，同時相關法令也無法隨著科技進步而與時俱進。在這種情況下，政府對於食品的監督仍只侷限於賣場，而無法早一步進到工廠，甚至將觸角伸向原料。可見，台灣仍然停留在「食品衛生」的階段，尚未進步到「食品安全」的時代。

從許多老牌企業捲入假油事件，可以發現，藉由業者「自律管理」的方式其實存在很大的漏洞；企業「選手兼裁判」主導食品安全，使ＧＭＰ制度淪為形式。許多不肖廠商為了賺取暴利，甚至竄改或偽造合格標籤，混淆消費者的耳目。由此，可見政府公權力已失去積極監督作用。

要檢討此一缺失，日本的例子或可供借鏡。日本向以對食品安全把關嚴格著稱，事實上，一九九○年前後日本也曾爆發連串的食安醜聞，歷經一次次陣痛。例如：北海道的Meat Hope公司涉嫌將廉價豬肉混進牛肉之中加工，偽裝成高級和牛販售圖利；北海道的巧克力品牌白色戀人則竄改包裝上的賞味期限，把過期的巧克力賣給消費者；高級的日本料理店船場吉兆，則將顧客吃剩的菜回收再包裝販售。由此可見，商人無良，舉世皆同。

而真正促成日本政府決心修改「食品衛生法」的，是二○○○年爆發的雪印牛乳中毒事件。此一事件的起因，是著名的雪印公司位於北海道的牛乳工廠，那年三月底因故停電三小時，但在復電後重新啟動生產線時，廠方卻未當即把停電期間感染葡萄球菌的生乳廢棄，反而將之製造成低脂牛乳販售。結果，關西地區有一萬五千人因此中毒，成為日本戰後最大規模的食物中毒事件。有七十五年歷史的雪印公司，也在民眾的集體抵制下，宣告破產。

這個事件，讓日本政府決定廢棄過時的「食品衛生法」，重新訂定「食品安全基本法」，使日本正式邁入「食品安全」時代。在「食品安全基本法」中，強調對食品從「產地」到「餐桌」全過程的監督，具有預防性、透明性及適應性等三項特性：

首先，在預防性方面：大幅提升政府監管食品安全的位階，從原先的部會提高至內閣府。在「內閣府」（相當於我國的行政院）之下設立「食品安全委員會」，由七名獨立委員組成，下設調查局及事務局，事務局下並設有安全評估科、訊息公告科及緊急應對科。七名委員獨立行使職權，其主要職責在於食品安全的風險評估，及預防食品危機的發生。

其次，在透明性方面：強化相關部會的橫向聯繫，在日本各部會當中，與食品安全有相關的便是「厚生勞動省」及「農林水產省」，厚生勞動省負責食品添加物的安全稽查，農林水產省負責稽查農產品及水產品的安全。「食安基本法」明訂，這兩個部會訊息要相互流通，並支援的跨部會合作，其主要職責在食安的風險管理並提供透明化的訊息。

第三，在適應性方面：這部「食安基本法」並非一成不變，從二○○三年制定後，總計修正達十五次之多。例如，二○○八年爆發「船場吉兆」餐廳以偽牛肉及上過桌的菜餚奉客的醜聞後，便修法成立「食品安全追溯制度」，目的在於全面而科學地監控食品移動的全過程，不僅要確保在事故發生時能迅速而準確地查明原因，追回問題食品，還要促進監管措施的透明化。亦即，日本的食品安全法令是與時俱進。

從日本的經驗，我們可以發現，從產地到餐桌的全面監控、預防性及透明化的訊息、和法令的與時俱進，是遏制黑心廠商造假並重拾民眾食安信心的三大利器。

馬總統信誓旦旦說不會放過任何黑心廠商，但是，人們似乎還沒看到政府真正的決心。政府何不以日本為鑑，在民氣可用的情況下，全面重建我國的食品安全機制，讓台灣邁向真正的「食品安全」時代。