A shipment of fava beans, also known as broad beans, from Japan was barred from entering Taiwan yesterday after tests determined it was contaminated with radiation.
However, food regulators and Atomic Energy Council officials said the level of radiation was low and did not exceed government safety standards.
“We have found iodine-131 [I-131] and cesium-137 on the shell of a shipment of 14kg of raw broad beans,” said Wang Chung-der (王重德), chief of the council’s Department of Radiation Protection. “Although they meet safety standards, we have asked customs to seal it up for safekeeping so they will not enter the local market.”
Tsai Shu-chen (蔡淑貞), chief of the Food and Drug Administration’s food safety division, said the importer had been notified when the council informed them of the results yesterday morning. Because the contamination was below safety levels, the importer could continue to sell the products at local markets, she said.
Tsai said all fresh food imported from Japan must pass safety examinations before it is allowed to enter the local market.
Wang said I-131 has a half-life of about eight days and that almost all of it is gone in 80 days. However, fresh food cannot keep for that long, he said.
Wang said documents showed the beans were imported from Kagoshima, which is far from the damaged Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear power plant.
More time was needed to determine how and where the product was contaminated, he said.
As for other products from Japan, Wang said Japan’s chief government spokesman had said on Saturday that elevated radiation levels had been found in milk and spinach near the Fukushima plant.
Although the levels are higher than safety standards, Wang said the beans did not pose an immediate health risk. However, the Japanese government has requested Fukushima Prefecture to suspend the sale of any agricultural and dairy products it produces, he said.
To ensure the safety of all products imported from Japan, Wang said the Bureau of Standards, Metrology and Inspection had agreed to add radiation tests to its routine examination, said Liu Wen-shi (劉文熙), deputy director of the council’s Department of Radiation Protection.
“They can begin the process as soon as their equipment is ready,” he said. “This is not the first time they have been tasked with such a mission and I believe it will be easy for them.”
On the nuclear fallout, Wang said the council was monitoring the situation every five minutes. So far, all data has been within normal range.
Rainfall is expected to become more widespread and persistent across central and southern Taiwan over the next few days, with the effects of the weather patterns becoming most prominent between last night and tomorrow, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said yesterday. Independent meteorologist Daniel Wu (吳德榮) said that based on the latest forecast models of the combination of a low-pressure system and southwesterly winds, rainfall and flooding are expected to continue in central and southern Taiwan from today to Sunday. The CWA also warned of flash floods, thunder and lightning, and strong gusts in these areas, as well as landslides and fallen
MASSIVE LOSS: If the next recall votes also fail, it would signal that the administration of President William Lai would continue to face strong resistance within the legislature The results of recall votes yesterday dealt a blow to the Democratic Progressive Party’s (DPP) efforts to overturn the opposition-controlled legislature, as all 24 Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) lawmakers survived the recall bids. Backed by President William Lai’s (賴清德) DPP, civic groups led the recall drive, seeking to remove 31 out of 39 KMT lawmakers from the 113-seat legislature, in which the KMT and the Taiwan People’s Party (TPP) together hold a majority with 62 seats, while the DPP holds 51 seats. The scale of the recall elections was unprecedented, with another seven KMT lawmakers facing similar votes on Aug. 23. For a
All 24 lawmakers of the main opposition Chinese Nationalists Party (KMT) on Saturday survived historical nationwide recall elections, ensuring that the KMT along with Taiwan People’s Party (TPP) lawmakers will maintain opposition control of the legislature. Recall votes against all 24 KMT lawmakers as well as Hsinchu Mayor Ann Kao (高虹安) and KMT legislative caucus whip Fu Kun-chi (傅崐萁) failed to pass, according to Central Election Commission (CEC) figures. In only six of the 24 recall votes did the ballots cast in favor of the recall even meet the threshold of 25 percent of eligible voters needed for the recall to pass,
‘CRUDE’: The potential countermeasure is in response to South Africa renaming Taiwan’s representative offices and the insistence that it move out of Pretoria Taiwan is considering banning exports of semiconductors to South Africa after the latter unilaterally downgraded and changed the names of Taiwan’s two representative offices, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) said yesterday. On Monday last week, the South African Department of International Relations and Cooperation unilaterally released a statement saying that, as of April 1, the Taipei Liaison Offices in Pretoria and Cape Town had been renamed the “Taipei Commercial Office in Johannesburg” and the “Taipei Commercial Office in Cape Town.” Citing UN General Assembly Resolution 2758, it said that South Africa “recognizes the People’s Republic of China (PRC) as the sole
RSS