The Department of Health confirmed yesterday that potentially toxic milk powder imported from China’s Sanlu Group has been sold to 10 distributors in nine cities and counties in Taiwan. There are fears that some of the milk powder may have found its way into processed or packaged foods such as coffee beverages.
The products were imported by Fonterra (ING) Ltd’s Taiwan branch on June 26. The milk powder is believed to contain melamine, a chemical used in plastic utensils, glue and fabrics. Adding melamine can increase the amount of protein contained in the powder.
The department said last night that 25 tonnes of the milk powder, packaged in 1,000 packs each containing 25kg, had been sold to 10 distributors in Taipei, Taoyuan, Kaohsiung, Pingtung, Hualien, Yunlin and Chiayi counties, as well as Taipei and Taichung cities. Of these, 605 have been distributed.
The department said local authorities were trying to locate 130 packs sold to Royal Fun Food Corp, which then sold them to other companies in Taipei County. A company in Pingtung has already sold the powder to farmers for agricultural purposes, while in Hualien 20 packs have beenused in other products, it said.
Two packs in Yunlin have been sold to a company in Chiayi, where some of the powder has been made into semi-finished products, the department said, adding that the products had been traced and sealed by authorities. Health officials have also traced and sealed 20 packs in Kaohsiung that were sold to a processed food factory in Changhua County and had been used in finished products such as milk coffee beverages.
Almost 400 packs were found at a warehouse in Taoyuan yesterday and were sealed by health officials, who stamped the words “Not for human consumption” on each pack.
“We are concerned that some of the finished products [made from the milk powder] have been sold to consumers,” Health Minister Lin Fang-yue (林芳郁) told a press conference yesterday.
He said local health authorities were still trying to track down the remaining milk powder, adding that “all toxic milk powder will be sealed up and destroyed at a later date.”
Lin said the department had notified the Bureau of Standards, Metrology and Inspection to ensure that the import of Sanlu products be prohibited. Only products that have tested negative for melamine will be allowed in, he said.
Also See: More babies, infants fall ill in China milk scandal
TPP RALLY: The clashes occurred near the Chiang Kai-shek Memorial Hall on Saturday at a rally to mark the anniversary of a raid on former TPP chairman Ko Wen-je People who clashed with police at a Taiwan People’s Party (TPP) rally in Taipei on Saturday would be referred to prosecutors for investigation, said the Ministry of the Interior, which oversees the National Police Agency. Taipei police had collected evidence of obstruction of public officials and coercion by “disorderly” demonstrators, as well as contraventions of the Assembly and Parade Act (集會遊行法), the ministry said in a statement on Sunday. It added that amid the “severe pushing and jostling” by some demonstrators, eight police officers were injured, including one who was sent to hospital after losing consciousness, allegedly due to heat stroke. The Taipei
NO LIVERPOOL TRIP: Taiwan’s Lin Yu-ting, who won a gold medal in the boxing at the Paris Olympics, was embroiled in controversy about her gender at that event Taiwanese boxer Lin Yu-ting (林郁婷) will not attend this year’s World Boxing Championships in Liverpool, England, due to a lack of response regarding her sex tests from the organizer, World Boxing. The national boxing association on Monday said that it had submitted all required tests to World Boxing, but had not received a response as of Monday, the departure day for the championships. It said the decision for Lin to skip the championships was made to protect its athletes, ensuring they would not travel to the UK without a guarantee of participation. Lin, who won a gold medal in the women’s 57kg boxing
The US has revoked Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co’s (TSMC, 台積電) authorization to freely ship essential gear to its main Chinese chipmaking base, potentially curtailing its production capabilities at that older-generation facility. American officials recently informed TSMC of their decision to end the Taiwanese chipmaker’s so-called validated end user (VEU) status for its Nanjing site. The action mirrors steps the US took to revoke VEU designations for China facilities owned by Samsung Electronics Co and SK Hynix Inc. The waivers are set to expire in about four months. “TSMC has received notification from the US Government that our VEU authorization for TSMC Nanjing
CHINESE INCURSIONS, SORTIES: President William Lai thanked military officers for shouldering the responsibility of defending the survival and development of Taiwan President William Lai (賴清德) yesterday said that aggression would inevitably fail, pointing — on the day before a mass military parade in Beijing — to the lessons from World War II and key victories Taiwan claims against Chinese forces in 1958. Taiwan has over the past five years repeatedly complained about heightened Chinese military activity including war games around the nation as Beijing steps up pressure to enforce territorial claims that Taipei rejects. Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平), flanked by Russian President Vladimir Putin and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, are to oversee a military parade in Beijing today to mark the
RSS