28/09/2008

歐盟規定 2.5ppm 這種漫天大謊都講的出來,這些官員果然還活在沒有 Google 的年代

話說馬政府上任以來,一張老臉睜眼說瞎話已經不是個案,靠著兩大報替其昏庸無能的治國能力擦脂抹粉也不是什麼新鮮事,不過中午聽一則出自聯合報的新聞「歐盟公佈最新三聚氰胺容許量為 2.5ppm,紐西蘭甚至放寬至 5ppm」簡直是不敢相信!難道大家都錯怪林芳郁了?

首先釐清一下「什麼是 ppm」。ppm 全名為 parts-per-million 百萬分之一,Wikipedia 有一張 NOTATIONS FOR DIMENSIONLESS QUANTITIES 的圖表可以簡單的換算出 ppm 等於 mg/L 或 mg/kg 的關係。由於有些規定並不是以最近常聽到的 ppm 、而是以 mg/L 為檢驗單位,為了避免混淆所以先了解兩種單位之間的關聯。

聯合報在 9 月 28 日凌晨發佈一則新聞標題為:三聚氰胺容許量》紐國5ppm 歐盟2.5ppm,裡面提到歐盟將三聚氰胺的容許量訂定為 2.5ppm,標準與臺灣目前是一樣的,而紐西蘭的標準甚至是一倍的 5ppm;文中提到英國也採取 2.5ppm 這個「比較合理」的標準,而美國也會在不久的未來訂出標準。聽起來好像臺灣要求 0ppm 這個「不合理」的檢驗標準似乎是「不符合國際趨勢」而且「過份苛求」了;食品工業發展研究所長劉廷英也在另外一篇報導中幫已經請辭下台的前衛生署長林芳郁叫屈,認為這整起事件已經演變成為「政治與情緒問題」,要大家乖乖的喝毒奶別再伸手去左右檢驗標準了。

聯合報說實話了嗎?2.5ppm 真的是可容許的標準嗎?

首先是歐盟。European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) 在 9 月 25 日確實有提出一份對於三聚氰胺容許量的建議報告,內容提到 TDI (Tolerable Daily Intake) 不得超過 0.5 mg/kg(整篇聲明裡面並沒有提到 2.5ppm 這個數字):

EFSA’s scientists today issued a statement saying that if adults in Europe were to consume chocolates and biscuits containing contaminated milk powder, they would not exceed the TDI (Tolerable Daily Intake) of 0.5 mg/kg body weight, even in worst case scenarios.
不過這個 2.5ppm 關鍵字倒是出現在英國;根據英國 Food Standards Agency 在 9 月 26 日 Update on melamine 提到:

All products from China containing more than 15% milk as an ingredient, or products where the percentage of milk content cannot be established, will be subject to documentary, identity and physical checks, including laboratory analysis, to determine that any levels of melamine present in the product do not exceed 2.5 mg/kg. Those products with more than 2.5mg/kg will be destroyed.


The Food Standards Agency works with port health authorities and local authorities to ensure EU controls are strictly enforced. There has been a longstanding ban on the import of milk and other products of animal origin from China as controls on the food industry in China do not meet the very strict requirements set in the EU.
怎麼回事?英國人比較不怕死嗎?有網友指出:

由於中國的食品工業不符合歐盟的嚴格規定,所以來自中國的牛奶及動物製品已經長期被禁止進口。看到這邊你會有個疑問, 既然都已經禁止進口了,為什麼還要驗呢?


原因在於,即使原產地不是中國的奶製品,還是有可能去使用中國的奶粉為原料而受到污染。舉例來說,假設某A國(非歐盟)進口了中國的奶粉來製成餅乾等產品,然後再賣到歐盟,原產地就會被標示為A國,因而躲過了歐盟對中國奶製品的禁令,成為食品安全上的漏洞。


所以,歐盟這次訂的這個標準,只是為了補上之前的安全漏洞,而不是為了要去有條件開放中國奶製品的進口,這和台灣的情況完全不能相提並論。因為台灣之前是允許中國奶製品直接進口的,歐盟在採行了這兩個措施互相配套之後,市面上將完全看不到任何中國的奶製品, 就連原料來自中國但在其他國家加工生產的漏網之魚都不會有,攝取量超過TDI的風險自然會被降到最低。但如果台灣只用人家拿來補漏洞的標準來做的話,可以想見市面上仍然會大量存在含有三聚氰胺的產品,攝取量超過TDI的風險也將會因此而大幅提高。
以上,釐清一下事實真相,以免有人被數字給誤導了。
再看美國 Food and Drugs Administration (FDA) 早在 2007 年五月就已經發佈的 Interim Melamine and Analogues Safety/Risk Assessment

The point of departure (POD) is the NOAEL of 63 mg/kg/day from the rodent subchronic bioassay. This POD was then divided by two 10-fold safety/uncertainty factors (SF/UF) to account for inter- and intra-species sensitivity, for a total SF/UF of 100. The resulting Tolerable Daily Intake (TDI) is 0.63 mg/kg bw/day. The TDI is defined as the estimated maximum amount of an agent to which individuals in a population may be exposed daily over their lifetimes without an appreciable health risk with respect to the endpoint from which the NOAEL is calculated.
FDA 在今年 9 月 23 日 FDA Updates Health Information Advisory on Melamine Contamination 聲明稿裡甚至直接建議消費者不要購買從中國製造的嬰兒乳製品:

In addition, the FDA is advising consumers not to purchase infant formula manufactured in China from internet sites or from other sources.
New Zealand Food Safety Authority (NZFSA) 在 9 月 26 日也發佈的關於三聚氰胺容許量的聲明,內容提到在前一天 European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) 並沒有改變原先三聚氰胺的檢測標準,還是維持在 0.5mg/kg,並且提到這個數字「接近但略低於美國」的標準,間接證明了美國是有檢測標準在的:

“Over the past week, our scientists have been exchanging information with their international colleagues. Last night, the European Food Safety Authority updated its opinion on the estimated tolerable daily intake (TDI) of melamine and left it unchanged at 0.5 mg/kg bodyweight (ie, for every kg a person weighs they can safely consume 0.5 mg every day – for a 20 kg child this is 10 mg; for a 70 kg adult the safe amount is 35 mg).”


Based on this figure, which is very close to but lower than that of the United States, NZFSA has adopted a conservative threshold of 5 ppm for most foods. This means that it has been considered that foods containing up to 5 ppm of melamine do not pose a risk to human health. However for starter infant formula, this level will be set to the current level of test detection of 1 ppm.
只是,NZFSA 還是採取了「較保守」的 5ppm 作為三聚氰胺的檢測標準?仔細看一下這個所謂的「5ppm」是不得超過的「單日累積攝取量」,並且會視情況「有所行動」,跟聯合報提到的 5ppm 是不一樣的東西:

If NZFSA detects amounts above these levels, a risk assessment will be undertaken, taking into account how much melamine is in the food and how much is likely to be eaten in a day. If it is likely that anticipated consumption levels of the food will cause people to exceed the 0.5 mg/kg bodyweight tolerable daily intake, or there is a suspicion of adulteration, then the appropriate regulatory action will be taken.

林芳郁告訴我們 2.5ppm 才是「國際標準」,不過事實上似乎只有香港才是所謂的「國際」,一切標準都以中國為主,這不就是實質的 CEPA 嗎?換了葉金川更慘,他說以後只有「合格」與「不合格」兩種結果,檢測含多少三聚氰胺都不公佈了!這又是哪裡的「國際標準」?Google 前陣子才歡度十週年生日,換句話說,馬政府這批官僚在上次執政的時候,全球搜尋引擎才剛剛起步,資訊並不像現在這樣容易取得,所以可以輕易的跟媒體配合來誤導民眾就算沒有很強的搜尋引擎,還是可以很容易的連結到這種大型的官方網站查到相關資料;官僚們,時代不同了!

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