Taiwan council urges the public to trust local pork

After recent outbreaks of ASF in Taiwan, locals are being urged not to take notice of false information about the safety of pork.
calendar icon 21 January 2019
clock icon 2 minute read

People can safely eat domestic pork, as African swine fever has not spread in Taiwan, Council of Agriculture Minister Chen Chi-chung said over the weekend, calling on people not to disseminate misinformation about the disease.

Demand for pork products usually rises ahead of the Lunar New Year holiday, but false information about the disease has affected domestic pork sales, Chen told a news conference in Taipei.

A netizen named Gina Lin this month on Facebook wrote that the disease had been found in Taoyuan and warned people not to eat pork products, the council said.

Disinformation could undercut quarantine work and might trigger panic, the council said, adding that on Tuesday it reported the post to the Taipei Police Department.

The council is confident that African swine fever has not spread in the nation and domestic pork products are safe, as they undergo strict checks before reaching the market, Chen said.

While the disease is fatal to pigs, the virus is not transmitted to humans, National Taiwan University Graduate Institute of Toxicology professor Chiang Chih-kang said, adding that people should not worry about risks to human health.

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Source: Taipei Times

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