Taipei (AsiaNews/Agencies) – The Taiwanese government has launched a plan to promote school milk consumption among children aged 3 to 12.
The Ministry of Education and the Ministry of Agriculture are working on this initiative, which is set to start in September, when schools reopen, to become a permanent national policy.
The goal, according to Education Minister Cheng Ying-yao, is to provide children with fresh and safe milk to become healthy adults. Children who are lactose intolerant (which is widespread in the country) will receive calcium- fortified soy milk.
The government is issuing tenders to find milk supplies for 1.34 million children enrolled in 2,600 kindergartens and elementary schools, allocating 4.4 billion Taiwanese dollars (about US$135 million) over four years.
Local producers will be privileged, but the plan includes greater milk imports from New Zealand, as part of a free trade agreement between Taipei and Auckland that will come into force next year with tariffs removed from 99.88 per cent of New Zealand imports.
Milk is not traditional in Chinese culture, but its consumption has grown considerably in recent years.
On average, 20.27 kg of milk were consumed in 2023 per capita in Taiwan, up by 9 per cent over 2019, far below the average of 52.81 kg for the European Union countries and 91.91 kg for Australia.
While milk consumption in Taiwan is much higher than in mainland China, where the average was only 11.73 kg last year, consumption in the latter jumped by 26 per cent over the same four-year period.
