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EU food safety officials visit I-Mei Food Safety Lab

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The EU's investment negotiations with Taiwan is said to be under preparation.

The EU's investment negotiations with Taiwan is said to be under preparation.

A three-day food safety summit will kick off on Tuesday in Taipei and will be attended by food safety experts from Taiwan and around the world. Before the summit, European Food Safety Authority Executive Director Bernhard Url and FoodWatch’s Campaign Director Matthias Wolfschmidt visited I-Mei’s Nankang Plant Monday to see what the so-called “Taiwan’s role model in food safety” has been doing to survive the food safety scandals which hit other companies in the country over the past few years and how they have eased consumers’ peace of mind. Accompanied by the Taipei-based European Economic and Trade Office Deputy Head of Office, Viktoria Lovenberg, Bernhard Url and Matthias Wolfschmidt visited I-Mei Foods Co. ahead of the summit and were received by the company’s CEO Luis Ko. The team visited I-Mei’s Food Safety Lab and had a wide-ranging discussion and exchange of views ranging from food safety laboratory management, practice, to opportunities for lab collaboration. I-Mei Foods Co. CEO Luis Ko (right) is explaining to the officials how the lab works. I-Mei Foods managed to survive the food safety scandals thanks to its ownership of a food testing laboratory. As a result, the government in 2014 added a so-called “I-Mei clause” to the Act Governing Food Sanitation, demanding that about 70 food companies set up labs of their own in order to take more responsibility in preventing problematic food products from reaching the consumer. Director of the I-Mei Food Safety Research Center Matt Chang briefed the European officials about the lab and the company’s production philosophy. Chang underscored that the world's ecosystem has been severely polluted by various chemicals and microbes. He added that at any stage of food production process, from planting to harvest and beyond, produce may contact pesticides in the air, water, or soil, making zero residue difficult to attain. Chang said that I-Mei is currently partnering with well-known medical center Taipei Veterans General Hospital to set up a new laboratory inside its medical research building. The name of the laboratory – Food-thy-Medicine-thy-Food Biochemistry Lab.—is taken from a famous quote by Greek physician Hippocrates, meaning most of the fruits, vegetables, and unprocessed whole foods have properties that can benefit our health. The mission of the lab involves conducting research in food safety, developing a new bioassay with Zebrafish, and verifying the effects of healthy foods on humans and animals. Chang also mentioned the prevalence of MRLs-related trade barriers around the world, saying the inconsistency of Maximum Residue Limits (MRLs) requirement have confused food importers and producers, and even led to their accidental violations. “I-Mei bears in mind an old saying of ‘we are what we eat’ and is committed to food safety, and the lab is looking forward to further cooperation and exchange in the future with laboratories in EU countries,” Chang added during the briefing. Separately, Luis Ko is invited to deliver a speech on food safety in the upcoming three-day food safety summit at the College of Public Health, National Taiwan University. I-Mei Foods Co. CEO Luis Ko is welcoming the the EU food safety officials and talking about his food safety philosophy. I-Mei Foods Co. CEO Luis Ko (center) poses with European Food Safety Authority Executive Director Bernhard Url (second from left), FoodWatch Campaign Director Matthias Wolfschmidt (second from right), European Economic and Trade Office Deputy Head of Office, Viktoria Lovenberg (left).