Taiwan Today

In early April, the Republic of China's canned mushrooms were erroneously implicated in a case of food poison­ing in Australia. The news immediately caused panic reactions around the globe among consumers of Taiwan's canned products. Bombarded with inquiries, the Taiwan Mushroom Packers and United Exporters Corp. (TMPUE Co.) was soon able to reassure all customers. The New South Wales Health Department in Australia had conducted tests that showed all samples examined by the department to be free of any sign of botulism. Jessie Wu, sales manager of TMPUE Co., recounted the events which followed the March 4 Australian announce­ment of the food poisoning. At once his organization, a cooperative body repre­senting both growers and packers in handling mushroom exports from Taiwan, was very concerned. They learned, with great relief, of the improvement in the condition of the sick people after the first week, and that no sign of botulism had been discovered in the cans of mushrooms taken from the household by the NSW Health Department. Further, the Health Department's test laboratory had done bacteriological and animal tests on 150 other cans of Taiwan mushrooms, some from the same two batches as the two cans initially under suspicion, others randomly selected. In fact, ROC mushrooms had been put on mass trial for signs of botulism and been proven innocent. Meanwhile, Wu was having a tense time responding to worried importers from other nations. Since batch numbers stamped on the cans identify a particular company's canned mushroom produc­tion on any particular day, he was able to state flatly that the same batch would not be in the concerned country's market. Nevertheless, panic reactions were common. World Health authorities actually issued a warning naming the two pro­cessing factories and referring to them as "tile two incriminated packers." Throughout Europe, as is usual in such a case, warnings were issued specifying the two batch marks. Finland, however, followed Australia's extreme reaction in withdrawing all supplies of canned Taiwan mushrooms from shop shelves. In America, Cornell Rice and Sugar Corporation, the world's biggest distributor of ROC mushrooms, reported to Wu that American authorities had recommended withdrawal of cans with similar labels. However, after a clear explanation of the situation by Wu, they did not proceed with such action. On March 23, a TMPUE Co. special delegate, C.P. Huang of the Food Indus­tries Research and Development Insti­tute in Taiwan, accompanied by representatives of Australian importers, met with Dr. T. King, acting chief health offi­cer of the NSW Health Department. As a result of the meeting the NSW Health Department put out a media release to clarify the situation. But, though it stated that batches tested were free of botulism, the statement did not specify the fact that the two cans supposedly implicated in the food poisoning incident were also definitely free of botulism, causing con­tinued problems for the export industry here until full clarification by the Australian authorities in early April. "Never in the 20 year history of Taiwan canned food exports has there been a proven case of contamination," asserts S.C. Liaw, chief of the exports division of the Bureau of Commodity In­spection & Quarantine. Since every carton exported carries the Bureau's cer­tificate of approval, he was surprised that he had not been contacted by the Australian authorities. Liaw explained that the can or batch code contains information that enables identification of the original grower and the work process­ing line for the product. For normal quality control, all factories are graded on a 34-point scale based on analysis of their packing equipment and procedures. All export packing plants are required to establish their own quality test laboratories, results from which are monitored by the Bureau at least every few days during production. Independent tests are also carried out by the Bureau in its own laboratory. Random sampling tests are made at a fre­quency dependent on the factories' quality control grading; standards applied are those of the U.S. Food and Drug Assn., acceptable in American and European countries. Cans must stand high pressure and heat tests. Contamination tests in­clude both bacteriological and chemical tests. At the factory level, C.T. Huang of Tong Hsin Food Industrial Corp. explained the on-line procedures that ensure hygienic production. In two facto­ries at Yunlin and Chiayi, Tong Hsin em­ploys a total of 800 people in season. All employees are issued uniforms, gloves, and hairnets before work. The company's production includes a large range of canned products-mushrooms, aspa­ragus, bamboo shoots, mandarin oranges, baby corn, lichees, and other fruits. Mushrooms account for about 15 percent of annual production. Bureau in­spections, Huang said, are random, at least every couple of days. However, the company's own quality control is constant and strict, including bacteriological tests and on-the-spot checking of produc­tion procedures. Most critically affected by any cutback in mushroom exports would be the specialized mushroom farmers. Unlike the factories and their employees, they do not have the flexibility to shift lines. The mushroom is a lightweight product, usually gathered after late winter and spring rains. The growers of champignons and button mushrooms in Taiwan, however, know well the heavy work involved in raising them en masse for world markets. The Taiwan farmer is typically of a sinewy, slight build, and to see him manhandling the 30 kilogram boxes-the mushroom beds-stacked up to fourth and sometimes fifth tiers in the mushroom growing sheds, you would think it was a job he could well do without. But it is this sort of energy appli­cation that has kept Taiwan's agriculture buoyant in the face of limited land for cultivation and the need for export dollars. Now, in all, 11,817 farming house­holds raise mushrooms, the majority of their production going to feed Taiwan's US$54 million export trade in canned mushrooms. The farmer's profit margin is rather slim; were he to reckon his labor at market rates, production costs per kilogram of mushrooms would be NT$29, though his selling price to the factories is, at this time, only NT$24 (about US$0.60) per kg. Thus it must be a family industry; the farmer cannot afford to employ hired help. Considering the normal situation, with everyone in the family pitching in, probably upwards of 50,000 people are involved in the growing process. As the family unit is a limiting factor, the biggest production units handle about 800 square meters of mushroom beds in three sheds. More normal is a single shed with about 300 square meters of bed space. Each 100 square meters of space will presently return about NT$9,000 (approx. US$225.00) per season, which is from late November to the end of March. It is evident that mushroom earnings for the farmers are not great, but considering that their annual cash incomes average roughly US$2,000 per year, it makes up a significant percentage. A cutback in export would cause the families obvious difficulties in enjoying the comforts of modern life in the Republic of China. Most of the labor consumed in mushroom raising is for bed preparation. Rice straw must be heaped and fertilized, then turned periodically over every three or four weeks to become humus. This medium is packed into boxes to a depth of 30 cm, and 5 cm of fine loam is layered on top. The boxes, arranged in rows in the mushroom sheds on five or four tier racks, are each seeded with mushroom spores, spread over the soil surface. Subsequent labor requirements are less exhausting, but still demanding, with daily harvesting once the mush­rooms begin to mature three or four weeks later. The sheds are very picturesque. Built on minimum capital, they uti­lize thatch over a bamboo frame. The thatch is an excellent insulating material, though it does require a lot of maintenance. In any case, Taiwan farmers seem to be dedicated workaholics, and none that I have spoken to complained about these chores. The rural life, as elsewhere, provides a sense of security and a degree of contentment unknown to metropolitan denizens.