Imported "fine" beef! Ministry of Health: It will be put into operation within one month at the earliest

The Executive Yuan announced a policy direction of conditionally opening up the residues of the lean meat stimulant "ractopamine" in beef. Kang Zhaozhou, director of the Food and Drug Administration of the Department of Health, said on the morning of the 6th that a food safety consultation meeting will be held as soon as possible to set a safe tolerance based on international standards and Taiwanese eating habits. The discussion will be based on the draft announced in 2007. If experts do not propose major revisions to the content, it can be implemented within one month at the earliest.

In 2007, Taiwan proposed a draft notification based on the permissible residue levels of ractopamine in meat products set by the United States, Japan, Canada and other countries. For beef, the permissible residue levels for beef liver are 40ppb, for muscle are 10ppb, for kidney are 90ppb, and for fat are 10ppb. However, since the Executive Yuan has announced the exclusion of offal and currently does not allow the import of any beef offal, only muscle and fat will be discussed in the future.

Director Kang Zhaozhou said that in terms of administrative procedures, they must first wait for the Council of Agriculture to lift the ban on ractopamine, while the Department of Health will formulate a safe tolerance. The previous draft notice can be used as a basis for discussion, but it is definitely not a final decision. Experts will be invited to hold a meeting in accordance with the law to re-examine relevant information and international practices and set ractopamine residue standards for beef. If the resolution is similar to the original draft content, after another notice, it can be officially announced in as little as one month.

As for pork, since the policy also announces the separation of cattle and pigs, there will be no residue limit set for pork, which means that ractopamine must not be detected in either imported or domestically produced pork.

The Executive Yuan's policy also includes mandatory labeling. Kang Zhaozhou pointed out that in the future, any place that supplies meat, from large stores to small stalls, even dumpling shops, nutritious lunches, etc., all beef suppliers must label the origin of the meat.

Kang Zhaozhou emphasized that this approach can provide the greatest protection for the public, because when people see American beef now, they already know it contains ractopamine. On the contrary, if the industry wants to increase commercial profits, if the imported beef does not contain ractopamine, it will be specially labeled.

The Department of Health will formulate a permissible amount of ractopamine residue in beef. So how much ractopamine is safe for the human body to consume every day? Currently, U.S. federal regulations clearly stipulate that the daily intake must not exceed 1.25 mg/kg of body weight. Kang Zhaozhou said that the internationally acceptable daily intake of ractopamine for humans is mostly between 1 and 1.4 mg/kg of body weight, and Taiwan will also follow this range.