Exposed! Consumers' Foundation: You can't find taro balls in taro dumplings

Eating rice dumplings during the Dragon Boat Festival is a custom. Many people, due to their busy work schedules, often order various special rice dumplings through virtual channels. However, the Consumers' Foundation today released a sampling report on rice dumplings ordered through convenience stores and the Internet, and found that the three types of rice dumplings sold by the Tung Hao Hotel had different contents than what was stated on the product ingredients label. There was even a situation where the purple rice and taro dumplings did not contain taro balls.

The Consumers' Foundation randomly checked rice dumplings sold through virtual channels and was surprised to find that there was not a single taro ball in the "Yam, Lotus Seed, Purple Rice and Taro Ball Rice Dumpling" sold by Tong Hao Hotel. (Photo provided by Consumer Foundation)

In order to understand whether food purchased online or pre-ordered from DM catalogs will shrink or have less ingredients as the price of food rises, the must-eat rice dumplings for the Dragon Boat Festival every year, the Consumers' Foundation ordered 15 flavors of rice dumplings from 13 vendors through convenience stores and the Internet in May. By comparing the photos provided by the vendors with the actual products received, it was discovered that among the Tung Hao Hotel's treasure flavor series of rice dumplings, the "Yam, Lotus Seed, Purple Rice and Taro Ball Rice Dumpling" did not contain taro balls, the "Peanut, Egg Yolk and Mushroom Rice Dumpling" did not contain chestnuts, and the traditional best-selling "Three Treasures Egg Yolk and Meat Rice Dumpling" was also missing squid.

In addition to missing ingredients, the Consumers' Foundation also found that most businesses concentrated the contents on the surface in the photo in order to show the richness of the fillings. However, when consumers actually ate the rice dumplings, they found that the fillings were too little and disproportionate to what was shown in the photo, making them feel cheated.

Su Jinxia, ​​chairman of the Consumer Foundation, said that many non-physical channel operators believe that as long as they mark "Pictures are for reference only, the actual product shall prevail" on the food advertising page, it is like getting a get-out-of-jail-free card and can avoid disputes over false advertising.

However, according to Article 21, Paragraph 1 of the Fair Trade Act, businesses may not claim exemption from liability by stating in advertisements or contracts that such statements or representations are “for reference only.” In addition, Article 41 of the same law also stipulates relevant penalties. Consumers call on businesses to maintain a good reputation and not overly beautify product images that are significantly different from the actual products.

In addition to the discrepancy between the advertisement label and the content, the Consumers' Foundation also found that each "Danti Royal Roasted Pork Zongzi" contains 607.8 calories. If two zongzi are consumed as a meal, it easily exceeds the required calorie intake of about 860 to 960 calories per meal for boys and 680 to 760 calories per meal for girls. Moreover, the same product contains 996 mg of sodium in a single pill, which is more than one-third of the total daily sodium intake of 2,400 mg recommended by the Department of Health, Executive Yuan for adults. Eating more may increase the health burden.