To Prevent Food Safety Incidents, Shih Chung-liang: Local Governments Should Increase Inspection Personnel

Central News Agency

(Central News Agency reporter Shen Pei-yao, Taipei, April 15) Amid frequent food safety incidents recently, some believe that insufficient inspection personnel is one of the reasons. Minister of Health and Welfare Shih Chung-liang stated today that with the revision of the Act Governing the Allocation of Government Revenues and Expenditures, the central government's disposable budget will decrease. However, when subsidizing local governments in the future, they will be required to correspondingly increase personnel.

Shih Chung-liang attended the Legislative Yuan's Social Welfare and Environmental Hygiene Committee this morning to deliver a special report on issues such as the 2026 "Trade Barriers Report" (NTE) issued by the Office of the United States Trade Representative (USTR) and new regulations for pet medications, and to answer questions.

Regarding the frequent food safety incidents recently, the Food Technologists Association believes it highlights a structural problem of severely strained frontline food safety inspection personnel. In response, Shih Chung-liang stated in a pre-meeting media interview that food safety inspection is only one of the three lines of defense for food safety.

He explained the "three lines of defense": first, internal control, which requires food factories of a certain scale to establish internal quality control mechanisms, requiring qualified personnel to oversee; the second line of defense is obtaining food inspection certification from a third-party impartial unit.

Shih Chung-liang said that the last line of defense is external inspection, which is carried out by local health bureaus. In terms of personnel, the central government will try its best to assist local governments. However, due to the revision of the Act Governing the Allocation of Government Revenues and Expenditures, the central government's disposable budget has decreased. In the future, when subsidizing local governments, they will be required to correspondingly increase personnel to meet the demand for inspection personnel.

In addition, GLP-1 receptor agonist drugs, commonly known as "skinny shots," have become a shortcut for weight loss, leading to chaotic illegal sales. Shih Chung-liang stated that to ensure transparent drug flow, the Ministry of Health and Welfare has listed GLP-1 drugs as "drugs requiring traceability" since August last year. Pharmaceutical companies must fully register their supply flow, and local health bureaus will cross-check with medical institutions, focusing on verifying whether individuals obtain drugs without a doctor's prescription.

Regarding the prevention of illegal channels, Shih Chung-liang emphasized that for illegal online sales of drugs, the Ministry of Health and Welfare has established a cooperation mechanism with the Ministry of Digital Affairs. Through online patrol projects, once illegal sales are discovered, they will be immediately banned, removed from shelves, and related information will be obscured to prevent illegal drugs from entering the market.

In addition to regulatory supervision, the Ministry of Health and Welfare simultaneously strengthens professional health education. Shih Chung-liang stated that cooperation with professional medical associations and physician associations has been enhanced to remind frontline physicians to strictly evaluate indications when prescribing GLP-1 drugs, as there are still certain drug risks. (Editor: Wu Su-jou) 1150415

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