TAIPEI 2016Spring Vol.03—Twin Taipei Cities Cooperation Platform: Achievements in Food Safety and Species ConservationPost date：2016-06-16
Updates：2016-08-23
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Article ＿ Wallace Chang
Photos ＿ Department of Health, Taipei City Government
Taipei City and New Taipei City are shared living areas. Thus, diet, work, living and entertainment in these “twin Taipei cities” are closely linked. A cooperation and exchange platform between the two cities has been established. In the past five years, much has been achieved through nearly 100 collaborative projects, creating a model for regional integration. Last year, the results were even more impressive, including the joint establishment of Food Tracer Taipei. This is a food ingredients registration platform, that allows for transparency in the food supply chain. The general public can now obtain information about the origin of foods at any time for peace of mind. In addition, the Taipei Zoo and the Agriculture Department, New Taipei City Government (新北市政府農業局) have been working together to restore Taipei’s grass frog populations. This rapidly disappearing species has been designated a category II rare and valuable species. Eggs obtained from this species’ habitat have been successfully raised, producing more than 200 juveniles, which is helping the species, nicknamed “thunder god frog”, to experience a resurgence.
Legal Basis Established: Institutionalization of Food Ingredients Registration Platform
Fol lowing nume rous food scandals in recent years, there has been a significant decline in the public’s trust of Taiwan’s foods. To expand the scope of food supply information transparency, Taipei City Government’s Department of Health ( 台北市政府衛生局) has provided guidance to an increasing number of vendors to encourage them to reveal the sources of their food ingredients. In addition, the two cities have collaborated on the development of Food Tracer Taipei.
According to the Department of Health, with the construction of this platform, the public can search for information regarding brands, place of production, sources of packaging materials and calories of ingredients in school lunches, marketplace produce, night market foods, campus foodstuffs, beverages and ice-creams, souvenir foods, baby foods and government employee cafeterias.
The Department of Health also notes that the Taipei City Selfgoverning Regulations for Food Safety
(台北市食品安全自治條例) form the legal basis for the food ingredients registration platform, which has allowed for the institutionalization, transparency and sustainability of this platform. In addition, the Food and Drug Administration, Ministry of Health and Welfare’s (衛生福利部食品藥物管理署) database on the nutrient composition of foods in Taiwan served as a reference. Records of foods are classified into 18 categories, covering 75 nutrients and a total of 1,346 foods. Through the efforts of the Department of Health and the Department of Education, Taipei City Government (台北市政府教育局), consistency in the naming of food ingredients has reached 85 percent in the school lunch section.
The Taipei Zoo is responsible for conservation and propagation of the Taipei grass frog. The Agriculture Department, New Taipei City Government is tasked with habitat survey and improvement. (Photo: Liu Jiawen)
Food Tracer Taipei has been quite effective. The Department of Health notes that during an incident involving tea-based drinks, information about Stornaway Black Tea (英國藍紅茶) could be immediately attained through a search. The listed supplier was Chou Chieh Enterprise (洲界公司) and the listed production area was Sri Lanka. In addition to these instantaneous search results, the information obtained was quickly passed to the Taipei District Prosecutors Office (台北地檢署) for use in its investigation. In another incident involving Kong Yen black vinegar (工研烏醋), this platform was used to confirm that three schools had received problem products.
Frog Population Restoration: Focus on Elevation of Survival Rates
There is a severe overlap in the activity areas of the Taipei grass frog, nicknamed the “thunder god frog”, and areas of human habitation. In the 1970s, its area of distribution was western Taiwan; however, with increasing land usage, its habitat shrank. Now, there are only a few scattered groups remaining. Due to habitat destruction and overuse of pesticides and herbicides, this species is endangered. To save the Taipei grass frog, the Taipei Zoo and the Agriculture Department, New Taipei City Government have been cooperating to restore the Taipei grass frog population. The Taipei Zoo is responsible for species conservation and stable population increase, and the Agriculture Department is tasked with carrying out habitat surveys and environmental improvements. Through the two cities’ collaborative platform mechanism, there have been concrete achievements in the restoration of the Taipei grass frog populations.
Chang Ming-hsiung (張明雄), Taipei Zoo associate researcher, says that the zoo staff has successfully bred the Taipei grass frog, caring for it at each stage of its life cycle from eggs to tadpoles to juveniles. It is hoped that a survival rate of more than 60 percent from the juvenile stage to the adult stage can be achieved, as this is key. If the survival rate of the Taipei grass frog is high and it is able to continue to propagate, the result will be the complete conservation of the species with reintroduction of core groups into the original habitat. Chang notes that in its effort to increase the wild populations and distribution range, the Taipei Zoo has referenced international species conservation experience and integration models. Reintroduction of this species into its original habitat is the objective. Simultaneous promotion of ex-situ conservation propagation and in-situ habitat survey and conservation education is also being carried out. By working together with New Taipei City to understand the environmental conditions in its habitat and through the implementation of habitat improvements and restoration, it is hoped that in the not too far future this frog will have a new lease on life in Greater Taipei.
Under joint efforts of the twin Taipei cities, populations of the endangered Taipei grass frog are being restored. (Photo: Gao Zanxian)
Photos ＿ Department of Health, Taipei City Government
Taipei City and New Taipei City are shared living areas. Thus, diet, work, living and entertainment in these “twin Taipei cities” are closely linked. A cooperation and exchange platform between the two cities has been established. In the past five years, much has been achieved through nearly 100 collaborative projects, creating a model for regional integration. Last year, the results were even more impressive, including the joint establishment of Food Tracer Taipei. This is a food ingredients registration platform, that allows for transparency in the food supply chain. The general public can now obtain information about the origin of foods at any time for peace of mind. In addition, the Taipei Zoo and the Agriculture Department, New Taipei City Government (新北市政府農業局) have been working together to restore Taipei’s grass frog populations. This rapidly disappearing species has been designated a category II rare and valuable species. Eggs obtained from this species’ habitat have been successfully raised, producing more than 200 juveniles, which is helping the species, nicknamed “thunder god frog”, to experience a resurgence.
Legal Basis Established: Institutionalization of Food Ingredients Registration Platform
Fol lowing nume rous food scandals in recent years, there has been a significant decline in the public’s trust of Taiwan’s foods. To expand the scope of food supply information transparency, Taipei City Government’s Department of Health ( 台北市政府衛生局) has provided guidance to an increasing number of vendors to encourage them to reveal the sources of their food ingredients. In addition, the two cities have collaborated on the development of Food Tracer Taipei.
According to the Department of Health, with the construction of this platform, the public can search for information regarding brands, place of production, sources of packaging materials and calories of ingredients in school lunches, marketplace produce, night market foods, campus foodstuffs, beverages and ice-creams, souvenir foods, baby foods and government employee cafeterias.
The Department of Health also notes that the Taipei City Selfgoverning Regulations for Food Safety
(台北市食品安全自治條例) form the legal basis for the food ingredients registration platform, which has allowed for the institutionalization, transparency and sustainability of this platform. In addition, the Food and Drug Administration, Ministry of Health and Welfare’s (衛生福利部食品藥物管理署) database on the nutrient composition of foods in Taiwan served as a reference. Records of foods are classified into 18 categories, covering 75 nutrients and a total of 1,346 foods. Through the efforts of the Department of Health and the Department of Education, Taipei City Government (台北市政府教育局), consistency in the naming of food ingredients has reached 85 percent in the school lunch section.
The Taipei Zoo is responsible for conservation and propagation of the Taipei grass frog. The Agriculture Department, New Taipei City Government is tasked with habitat survey and improvement. (Photo: Liu Jiawen)
Food Tracer Taipei has been quite effective. The Department of Health notes that during an incident involving tea-based drinks, information about Stornaway Black Tea (英國藍紅茶) could be immediately attained through a search. The listed supplier was Chou Chieh Enterprise (洲界公司) and the listed production area was Sri Lanka. In addition to these instantaneous search results, the information obtained was quickly passed to the Taipei District Prosecutors Office (台北地檢署) for use in its investigation. In another incident involving Kong Yen black vinegar (工研烏醋), this platform was used to confirm that three schools had received problem products.
Frog Population Restoration: Focus on Elevation of Survival Rates
There is a severe overlap in the activity areas of the Taipei grass frog, nicknamed the “thunder god frog”, and areas of human habitation. In the 1970s, its area of distribution was western Taiwan; however, with increasing land usage, its habitat shrank. Now, there are only a few scattered groups remaining. Due to habitat destruction and overuse of pesticides and herbicides, this species is endangered. To save the Taipei grass frog, the Taipei Zoo and the Agriculture Department, New Taipei City Government have been cooperating to restore the Taipei grass frog population. The Taipei Zoo is responsible for species conservation and stable population increase, and the Agriculture Department is tasked with carrying out habitat surveys and environmental improvements. Through the two cities’ collaborative platform mechanism, there have been concrete achievements in the restoration of the Taipei grass frog populations.
Chang Ming-hsiung (張明雄), Taipei Zoo associate researcher, says that the zoo staff has successfully bred the Taipei grass frog, caring for it at each stage of its life cycle from eggs to tadpoles to juveniles. It is hoped that a survival rate of more than 60 percent from the juvenile stage to the adult stage can be achieved, as this is key. If the survival rate of the Taipei grass frog is high and it is able to continue to propagate, the result will be the complete conservation of the species with reintroduction of core groups into the original habitat. Chang notes that in its effort to increase the wild populations and distribution range, the Taipei Zoo has referenced international species conservation experience and integration models. Reintroduction of this species into its original habitat is the objective. Simultaneous promotion of ex-situ conservation propagation and in-situ habitat survey and conservation education is also being carried out. By working together with New Taipei City to understand the environmental conditions in its habitat and through the implementation of habitat improvements and restoration, it is hoped that in the not too far future this frog will have a new lease on life in Greater Taipei.
Under joint efforts of the twin Taipei cities, populations of the endangered Taipei grass frog are being restored. (Photo: Gao Zanxian)
