Food and medicine are closed to people's daily lives. How to make careful choices and to have or take them in right ways have become necessary common senses for consumers in daily lives when facing so much diversified food and various medicine with different effects of therapy.

Despite of telling problematic food and medicine sold in market by observing their outlooks, consumers may inquire department of health of local government ( county or city government) about the questioned food or medicine, or even apply for testing by authorities. In addition, when purchasing uncooked food, consumers must notice if the selling or consuming place is clean, the packing is in perfect condition, the instruction mark is clear and completed, or the time is over due. The best strategy to deal with sickness is seeing a doctor, instead of taking patent medicine casually, or just believing firmly on informal prescriptions.

When you are going to buy food or medicine, please do refer to the Concise Table of Problematic Food and Medicine Diagnosis and the Table List of Food and Medicine Marks to do self-checking before making purchasement. If you find any doubt in food or medicine, please reject buying or taking them and inform the local regulators. Let's protect we consumers' interests together.

The Concise Table of Problematic Food and Medicine Diagnosis

1. Are the selling and consuming places sanitary?
2. Is the packing qualified for security?
3. Is the mark complete?
4. Has it been over the expiry date?
5. Is the manufacturing date or expiry date altered after erasing or attaching new labels?
6. Is the content of the mark or the advertisement fake or exaggerated?
7. Are the origins of imports marked in Chinese? Do the Chinese marks have the same instructions as the original ones do?
8. Are there a marked character and a number printed on the medicine sold which have been authorized by the Department of Health, Executive Yuan?

Provided by the Department of Health, Executive Yuan

• ADD: No.100, Aikuo East Road, Taipei
• TEL: (02)23210151
• Website: www.doh.gov.tw