By News Desk | October 14, 2014

Taiwanese President Ma Ying-jeou has announced plans to create a food safety agency within his government in an effort to combat problems with tainted food and other food safety concerns that have plagued Taiwan and China in recent years, according to the China Post.

The announcement comes just a month after the revelation of an ongoing scandal involving a Taiwanese food company accused of buying recycled waste oil and mixing it with lard oil to resell to customers. Tons of popular products, including seasonal mooncakes, pineapple cakes, breads, instant noodles, steamed buns and dumplings have been recalled since the “gutter oil” scandal recently came to light.

Ma held a national security meeting when the oil scandal came to light. He’s now calling for an agency to oversee “food safety control issues in various government offices.”

This was the first time Ma has called for a national security meeting related to food. He has reportedly asked his staff to use available government resources to question other big food industry players which might be involved in the gutter oil scandal.

China has also become well-known for a number of food safety scandals in recent years. Read more here: “China’s Food Safety Issues Worse Than You Thought.”

© Food Safety News