Day 3- Company Tours

Finally, a bit of a break! We've been so busy that we've hardly had time to sleep, let alone use the internet. I'm stealing a bit of a break between club activities and dinner to catch you up on the last two days, so no pictures yet, but maybe I can add them soon!

Yesterday we toured two food manufacturing facilities about an hour northwest of New Taipei City where we are staying. The first, a mid-sized tofu and soymilk concentrate producer, was a good representation of some of the major differences between food production in the United States and in Taiwan. For example, their food product is produced using a HACCP plan (Hazard Analysis Critical Control Point for those of you who are not foodies.) This safety plan is not required by the government and is a point of pride for those who use it. In fact, it is declared on the label. The production environment however, is majorly lacking in some areas. They are not able to say that the building is GMP certified, and again, are not required to do so.

I wish that I knew more about the required practices in Taiwan, because I saw a few things that would not be allowed in the US such as dirty ceilings. We had a good discussion about genetically modified crops, and we learned that most Taiwanese do not want them in their food. They do not have an "organic" certification like the U.S. (which requires that you meet other checkpoints), but instead can declare "No GMOs", again a point of pride.

We ate lunch on the bus and then traveled to a large company that manufactures a lot of food products. The difference between this and the last food company was startling. This is an international company with a very large reach, something very apparent as soon as we walked in the door. We were given a short tour of the frozen pastry production line and then given samples of them to taste. We were also introduced to the company, the products that they produce, and the practices that they use to guide the company. It was very interesting and I'd like to talk more about it, but I think that I'll save it for another time.

We got back to FJU just in time to leave again. This time, we rode the city bus (As opposed to the chartered bus we had been using earlier in the day) with students into Taipei City. We got off at a place that looked like Times Square. Neon lights everywhere! It was really funny to see many brands that looked familiar such as KFC. There were also a lot of knock-off stores, like Forever 26 (as opposed to Forever 21). We toured a little mall and then headed to a karaoke place. Boy was that an experience! I'll have to finish catching you up later. It's time for dinner!

Emily