Taichung City Government-City News(Historical)-Safe food choice for Chinese New Year assures a happy and good year!

As Chinese New Year is approaching and all kinds of festive food are pushed onto the market, we wish to remind our citizens to pay extra caution when picking up foods for the holidays. Make sure to personally touch, watch and smell the food before making a buying decision. Remember not to buy packaged dried food which may have been put aside for quite a long time and is not fresh any more.
It is inevitable to have a lot of eating and drinking during the reunion of family and friends for Chinese New Year holidays. How can we have a healthy and vibrant Chinese New Year?! The Public Health Bureau of Taichung City Government wishes to remind you not to overeat but stick to “four less, one more, and three good principles” in preparing dishes. Of course, the dishes must be delicious but they should also be nutritionally balanced, digestible, and easy to chew. In addition, we must avoid over-stocking our refrigerator; otherwise, the refrigerator may lose its refrigeration and/or freezing function, resulting in food going stale. Remember to stay healthy while enjoying cuisines. Then you can have a happy new year.
Three tips for purchasing food for Chinese New Year:
1.	Touch: Dried food should feel dry; it can not feel moist. Put the dried food on hand and feel it. Such food as fungus and mushrooms should feel thick, while dried shrimp should be relatively light.
2.	Watch: It is not right for the food stuff to appear too dark or too bright. Pay attention to origin and source of produce. Avoid buying goods of inferior quality; it is better to choose stuff of natural color; avoid dried products with bright color (For example, dried brown lilies should be in their natural color of light brown). It is better to buy white radish and/or mushroom that have not been washed. Do not buy those stuffs appearing too white in color. Sausage, ham, dried shrimp, bacon, and/or dried fish that look bright red may be added with too much additives.
3.	Smell: Smell with your nose to confirm that there is no odor. For fish, choose those whose skin is smooth; flesh looks transparent, firm and elastic; gills are bright red; eyes are clearly bright; scales are smooth and shiny; abdomen is elastic; body has no scars and does not stench.
Tips for preparing dishes for Chinese New Year holidays — the “four less, one more, and three good principles”
1.	Four less: Less fried, less fat, less oily soup, and less sauce
2.	One more: More fruits and vegetables
3.	Three good principles: healthy, balanced, and moderate