Eater
Date: Dec 2, 2015
By: Clarissa Wei

What is goldfish tea?

The ultimate tea lover gift for the drinker who has it all? Charm Villa’s feverishly

popular—and pricey—goldfish tea. Though Charm Villa, a creative agency based in Taipei, launched the limited production teabags two years ago, they’re still as desired as ever (the company often sells out, so supply has been an ongoing issue) and they’re now for sale in the U.S. Well, not officially, but via third party stores on Amazon, one can purchase a box of 12 teabags for $80 (as compared to $35 in Taiwan).

Fashioned from Japanese fabric and infused with Taiwanese tea leaves, the bags were designed by 28 university students from St. Johns University in Taipei. “There are 16 steps that go into making the teabag. Nine of those require manual, handicraft skill,” a Charm Villa rep said via email. “As for the details of the production, those are trade secrets.”

Since launch, the bags have racked up two prestigious design awards: the iF Design Award 2015 for Discipline Packaging and the Red Dot Communication Design Award a year earlier.

“The goldfish in Asian culture represents wealth and good fortune,” the rep explained.     [FULL  STORY]

Taiwan News
Date: 2015-11-27
By: Taiwan News, Staff Writer

Taiwan’s Legislative Yuan passed an amendment to the Act Governing Food

Safety and Sanitation Friday to ban artificial trans fats in processed foods, with violators facing fines of up to NT$3 million (US$91,829).

Under the revised law, food manufacturers will have a three-year grace period to eliminate the forbidden materials from their products.

Ruling Kuomintang Legislator Wang Yu-min said scientific data shows that excessive consumption of artificial trans fats are harmful to health and increases the chances of developing cardiovascular disease.     [FULL  STORY]

Taiwan News
Date: 2015-11-25
By: Ko Lin, Taiwan News, Staff Writer

Health authorities in Keelung revealed that a number of food items were found to have failed

food labeling regulations, reports said Wednesday.

According to the Keelung City Health Bureau director Wu Zei-cheng, food labeling inspections were carried out randomly between July 1 and November 20 across the city, and 146 items were found to have failed to list the sources of main ingredients on the packaging, including their nutritional values.

“Amongst the 146 items, nine fall under Keelung’s jurisdiction,” Wu said.

Taiwan’s Food and Drug Administration (FDA) rolled out in May a number of new regulations targeting food and drinks in the wake of a widespread pesticide scare, including mandatory testing for pesticide residue.     [FULL  STORY]

Focus Taiwan
Date: 2015/11/22
By: W.T. Chen and Lillian Lin

Taipei, Nov. 22 (CNA) Genetically modified (GM) salmon from the United States

cannot be imported as foodstuffs or ingredients, unless it is inspected and licensed by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) under the Ministry of Health and Welfare, a ministry official said Sunday.

Referring to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration’s recent announcement that it had given approval to GM salmon for food, Chou Pei-ju (周珮如), an FDA section chief, said since Taiwan’s food inspection authorities at the moment have no inspection procedure for GM salmon, such fish products from the U.S. are not allowed to be imported.     [FULL  STORY]

Taipei Times
Date:  Nov 07, 2015
By: Han Cheung  /  Staff reporter

From time to time, I still think of that amazing lobster roll I had at Ed’s Lobster Bar by the

New York City waterfront on my last visit.

So I was pleasantly surprised when I passed by the Lobster Bar in Taipei. However, the restaurant’s higher-end, atmospheric interior, had always deterred me from just popping in for a quick seafood fix.

Eventually, I brought a date. But as soon as we sat down it became apparent that, due to portions and pricing, we should have brought a group so that we could sample the restaurant’s intriguing and diverse menu, which includes far more than its namesake suggests. For example, we didn’t order the seafood paella because there was a minimum order of two portions (NT$420 per portion), and who wants to fill up on rice when there’s lobster?

Also, visit early if you want to try the surf and turf burger (NT$680), featuring prime shoulder meat, foie gras and lobster. Alas, they only make 10 of these per day.     [FULL  STORY]