Taichung City Government will begin to disclose the auditor reports on fire, police and food safety for about 200 large-scale caters within its jurisdiction in January 2016. The audit results will be classified into the red, yellow and green warning lights and can be viewed through “Taichung Food Safety APP” in a hope that consumers can supervise the caters at a glance. The city government will also help the good caters to negotiate with the insurance companies to lower their premium for compulsory liability. It is hoped that this two-pronged approach can encourage the traders to enhance food safety.

Chen Chao-chien (陳朝建), Director-general of Legal Affairs Bureau, said, “Our joint inspections in the past have often found that large-scale caters used overdue ingredients or violated the construction and fire regulations. As a large number of people usually get together to dine for a long time at a large wedding hall, such issues as food safety and fire and building safety are very important to consumer rights. We have therefore set up this APP to help consumers better understand the safety rating of a restaurant, so as to protect their own interests.”

Kang Xin-ren (康馨壬), Director of Consumer Protection Office of Legal Affairs Bureau, also said, “In Taichung city, there are about 200 large-scale caters each of which occupies an area of 300 square meters or over. Our Legal Affairs Bureau and Health Bureau and other agencies have launched joint inspections over their safety facilities but the results were not good enough, because the traders have always responded to our requirements for correction in a passive attitude. To completely overturn their attitude, we have thus decided to disclose the joint audit reports of Fire Bureau, Construction Bureau, Health Bureau and Consumer Protection Office on the website and classify their safety rating by the red, yellow and green lights. Moreover, we have also developed the ‘Taichung Food Safety APP’ through which consumers can view the safety rating of any restaurant.

“To encourage traders to actively improve their situations, the APP is equipped with a ‘light-flipping’ function. As long as a trader improves his or her facilities and passes our re-inspection, the red or yellow light signal will be changed into green immediately to help the trader attract more consumers. Moreover, the city government has been negotiating with the National Property & Casualty Association (全國產險公會) to adjust the premium in accordance with the light signals. It is hoped that we can help those good caterers reduce their burden of compulsory insurance, and the government, the public and the industry can work together to enhance our environment for food safety.”