Vendors of memory retention gum could face seven years in jail

Focus Taiwan
Date: 2017/10/23
By: Chang Ming-hsuan and Kuan-lin Liu 

Taipei, Oct. 23 (CNA) Local online vendors of a Japanese chewing gum that claims to
improve memory retention could face up to seven years in prison and a NT$50 million (US$1.65 million) fine, an official from the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) said in an interview on Monday.

In a statement issued earlier Monday, the FDA said a Japanese chewing gum that allegedly improves memory retention is governed under regulations for controlled drugs and medicine, not those for food products, because the gum contains ginkgo biloba leaf extract, a substance that has not been approved as a food ingredient in Taiwan.

FDA section chief Chiang Chien-chi (江仟琦) later said vendors of the gum in Taiwan could face up to seven years in jail and a NT$50 million fine as all controlled drugs must first be approved by and registered with the Ministry of Health and Welfare before being sold.    [FULL  STORY]