The “Taoyuan LOHAS Food Safety Carnival” in 2022 ended wonderfully today (4th). The food safety carnival was postponed to this year due to the pandemic. There were over 250 stalls in the venue, and this four-day event attracted more than 260,000 visitors. As a surprise, at the end of the event, balloons were released into the sky to represent the thriving food industry in Taoyuan.
This year’s event centered around the theme “food traceability”. In order to promote food traceability, the Taoyuan City Government designed “food traceability challenge games” in the government section where a lively atmosphere was created as if the participants were in night markets, restaurants, and stores. In the interactive 3x3 square challenge game, people got hands-on experience searching traceability information by scanning the food source boards or product traceability QR codes. The participants not only had a lot of fun in these interesting games, but also gained an understanding of the government’s efforts through the activities incorporated with relevant policy outcomes. Trust is indispensable to food safety.
The Director of the Department of Public Health, Wang Wen-Yan, indicated that as pandemic prevention and healthcare have become part of people’s daily life due to the pandemic over the past two years, the government invited well-known nutritionists and the Taoyuan City Chinese Medicine Suppliers Association to organize multiple DIY educational food safety outreach sessions during the event for people to understand food additives, be introduced to Chinese medicinal herbs, and gain knowledge about food safety, pandemic prevention, and healthcare through informal and entertaining teaching, offering educational entertainment.
The four-day food safety carnival came to a climax on the last day. Mayor Cheng Wen-Tsan drew and announced the first prize winner of a luxury car. There were other grand prizes such as a Gogoro motorbike, an inverter washing machine, and an LCD TV, allowing people to bring various prizes back home in addition to food safety knowledge. The event was wrapped up by having AKB48 Team TP, a popular female idol group, deliver a performance full of energy and passion that ignited the crowd's excitement.
Over 100 food companies in Taoyuan and from other cities and counties were invited to the event. The top 10 most distinctive food companies during the four-day event were selected by the participants. The Department of Public Health held an award ceremony today to appreciate the hard work and dedication of these companies. The Taoyuan City Government has ensured and promoted food safety in annual food safety carnivals to not only reinforce the management of food companies and product quality, but also enable people to engage in supervision. By doing so, the citizens can feel safe to eat, appreciate the dedication of the companies, and have more confidence in the government, thereby forming emotional resonance, consensus, and a win-win partnership between the industry, government, and citizens.