The Taiwan Food and Drug Administration (TFDA) urges all parties to conform to Article 40 of the Act Governing Food Safety and Sanitation (AGFSS) and Article 24 of its Enforcement Rules when publishing food sanitation testing data. Information including test method, test agency, and the evidence for result interpretation should also be included in order to provide complete testing information to the public. When publishing food sanitation testing data, it is not compulsory to release test reports concurrently. However, the items that are required to be disclosed according to the AGFSS at the same time should be visibly listed in published media or reports. Alternatively, website links of related data can be provided alongside the food sanitation testing data for public review to allow the general public comprehensive access to the testing information. In addition, although laboratory data can be used to compare with review criteria, the legality of related products shall be determined by the governing authority.
Article 40 of the AGFSS stipulates that, “when publishing testing information on food sanitation, the method of test, testing unit and the evidence used in interpreting the results shall be concurrently disclosed.” Article 24 of the AGFSS Enforcement Rules specifies the items that should be disclosed as follow:
1. The method of test: including the basis of the method adopted, experiment procedure, instruments and equipment for the test and standard materials.
2. Testing unit: including the name, address, contact information and responsible person of the laboratory.
3. Evidence used in interpreting the results: including the sampling method of the specimens, product names, source, package, batch number or manufacture date or expiry date, data of finalized experiment, interpreting standard and its source or academic reference.
The TFDA recommends that the testing methods promulgated or announced by the Administration should be adopted as much as possible, so that they can be directly quoted when publishing “the method of test” later on.
TFDA states that the above regulations and requirements aim to ensure the full disclosure of testing information, allow test reports to undergo public assessment, and serve as administrative references for the governing authorities, in order to safeguard food safety for the public.


Data Source：Food and Drug Administration