toxic

Today, news broke that traces of toxic chemical (甲苯 toluene) was found in paper boxes that were commonly used for take-outs in TW. It was allegedly used to swipe the inside of the boxes to remove printing stains. More than 50 big names in the food industry are affected, including a few famous restaurants and an airline. 

dried food is better than fake food, no?

In my 2 years here, there has been a constant exposé about inappropriate use of chemical in food and food-related products. In 2011, it was plasticizer (塑化濟 DEHP) in beverages, fruit juices, bread, sports drinks, tea and jam. Earlier this year it was maleic acid (順丁烯二酸) in food starch used in chewy tapioca balls and many food items. And now, it’s toluene on food packaging. These are on top of the routine discovery of improper use of pesticides, preservatives, additives, and what not. It's no wonder that TW has the highest number of dialysis patients in the world!!

Many of those caught pleaded ignorance. They claimed that they didn't know the chemical they were adding was harmful and/or damaging to health. And most of the time, these manufacturers will be fined. That's all. It's just like a small slap on the hand and they are then free to continue doing what they were doing. No jail term, no confiscation of property, no expensive lawsuit/settlement from consumers. It's business as usual once the fine is paid. 

Personally, I think the people of TW should take some of the responsibilities for these horrible food violation. They want food to be crunchy, bouncy or whatever when it shouldn't be. They want their food to look good, to not lose its taste after storage, etc. They want food to behave 'unnaturally'. Imagine puddings with no eggs yet remains aromatic, rice vermicelli contains less than 10% rice, ice-cream that doesn't melt, bread that remains moist after days, noodles that won't turn mushy when soak for hours, etc.  Thus it's no wonder these manufacturers resolved to adding toxic chemicals in the hope of (re)capturing the taste buds of these fickle consumers.
Now that I can cook in my room, I'm gonna try to ingest as little as possible these toxic by cooking as often as I can.