The Taipei County Government and a group of fast food chain restaurants are set to launch a program to label food products with nutritional information from Aug. 1 on a trial basis.
Under the program set to run until the end of this year, the labels will contain information on calories, protein, fat, carbohydrates and sodium, as well as information on the ratios of the six main food groups–grains; milk products; meat, fish and beans; fruits; vegetables; and fat–contained within the fast food products on offer.
Taipei County Magistrate Chou Hsi-wei, Consumers’ Foundation Chairman Hsieh Tien-jen, and executives of the fast food chains were among those who took part in a news conference July 26 to announce the upcoming program.
The fast food restaurants participating in the labeling campaign include McDonald’s, KFC, Pizza Hut, Domino’s Pizza, MOS Burger, 21st Century Fried Chicken, Burger King, T.K.K. Fried Chicken and Subway, to name a few.
Chou noted that there is a growing trend in the United States and Europe to uphold consumers’ right to know the ingredients of the food products they purchase. In Taiwan, he continued, more and more fast food restaurants are appearing, and parents have nutritional concerns about the fact that their children are eating more of these foods. He claimed the most effective way of dealing with this problem is by labeling fast food products with information on their nutritional value.
At the same time, Chou expressed his appreciation to the fast food operators for voluntarily taking part in the program, saying this is one of their corporate responsibilities.
According to studies, obesity among children is a growing problem in Taiwan and has been linked to increased consumption of fast food. The tallies show that some 12 percent of elementary and junior high school students in Taipei City are obese, with the figure rising to as high as 30 percent in Taipei County.
Officials from the education bureaus of Taipei City and Taipei County said they believe labeling food products with information on the ingredients as well as recommended daily intakes could help solve the growing obesity problem.
Also speaking at the news conference, Hsieh pointed to several other problems related to diet. He noted that some 5 million people around Taiwan suffer from high blood pressure, while roughly 1.6 million have a high blood sugar content, and around 2.5 million have excess blood fat levels.
During the gathering, the fast food restaurant executives jointly signed a pact on taking part in the program, symbolizing their commitment to protecting food safety for the sake of consumers. (SB)