The week-long food scare continues to widen as health authorities yesterday said that some products made by Hong Shing Pharmaceutical (宏星製藥), a well-known manufacturer of medicinal and health supplements which has Good Manufacturing Practice (GMP) certification, are suspected of containing contaminated clouding agents.
Department of Health officials said the latest round of investigations into manufacturers whose supply chain contains clouding agents manufactured by Yu Shen Chemical Co (昱伸香料有限公司), as well as companies that source their materials from Yu Shen, have found that Hong Shing’s lactic acid bacteria, a type of health supplement, is thought to contain clouding agents laced with the chemical di(2-ethylhexyl) phthalate, or DEHP.
RESTRICTED
Photo: Chang Chia-ming, Taipei Times
More than 400 boxes of the lactic acid bacteria made by Hong Shing have been sealed and stopped from being sold, said Feng Ren-lan (馮潤蘭), a deputy section chief at the Food and Drug Administration.
The department yesterday also conducted spot checks at clinics and pharmacies to see if all tainted products had been pulled off the shelves.
The operation was part of a broader move by the department to crack down on products tainted with DEHP.
Department officials said strawberry and grape-flavored syrup sold by Chuanlin Co to local pharmacies and clinics were found to be tainted with DEHP. The syrup was produced by a downstream firm of Yu Shen Chemical Co.
Clouding agents, legal food additives made from gum arabic, palm oil and emulsifier, are commonly used in fruit jelly, yogurt mix powder, juices and other beverages to keep emulsions evenly dispersed and enhance viscosity.
In the past few days, authorities discovered that Yu Shen and Pin Han Perfumery Co (賓漢香料公司), based in Tucheng District (土城), New Taipei City (新北市), were allegedly illegally adding chemicals to clouding agents.
TWO TYPES
While Yu Shen allegedly used DEHP, Pin Han was reported to have used the chemical diisononyl phthalate (DINP), which is similar to DEHP.
The department said both DINP and DEHP are legal when used in the manufacture of plastic products, but cannot legally be used in food additives.
The department on Friday required that all products containing clouding agents be pulled off the shelves. Manufacturers must prove to the government that their products are DEHP-free by today, before they will be allowed to put their products back on the market.
ROLLER-COASTER RIDE: More than five earthquakes ranging from magnitude 4.4 to 5.5 on the Richter scale shook eastern Taiwan in rapid succession yesterday afternoon Back-to-back weather fronts are forecast to hit Taiwan this week, resulting in rain across the nation in the coming days, the Central Weather Administration said yesterday, as it also warned residents in mountainous regions to be wary of landslides and rockfalls. As the first front approached, sporadic rainfall began in central and northern parts of Taiwan yesterday, the agency said, adding that rain is forecast to intensify in those regions today, while brief showers would also affect other parts of the nation. A second weather system is forecast to arrive on Thursday, bringing additional rain to the whole nation until Sunday, it
LANDSLIDES POSSIBLE: The agency advised the public to avoid visiting mountainous regions due to more expected aftershocks and rainfall from a series of weather fronts A series of earthquakes over the past few days were likely aftershocks of the April 3 earthquake in Hualien County, with further aftershocks to be expected for up to a year, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said yesterday. Based on the nation’s experience after the quake on Sept. 21, 1999, more aftershocks are possible over the next six months to a year, the agency said. A total of 103 earthquakes of magnitude 4 on the local magnitude scale or higher hit Hualien County from 5:08pm on Monday to 10:27am yesterday, with 27 of them exceeding magnitude 5. They included two, of magnitude
CONDITIONAL: The PRC imposes secret requirements that the funding it provides cannot be spent in states with diplomatic relations with Taiwan, Emma Reilly said China has been bribing UN officials to obtain “special benefits” and to block funding from countries that have diplomatic ties with Taiwan, a former UN employee told the British House of Commons on Tuesday. At a House of Commons Foreign Affairs Committee hearing into “international relations within the multilateral system,” former Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) employee Emma Reilly said in a written statement that “Beijing paid bribes to the two successive Presidents of the [UN] General Assembly” during the two-year negotiation of the Sustainable Development Goals. Another way China exercises influence within the UN Secretariat is
Taiwan’s first drag queen to compete on the internationally acclaimed RuPaul’s Drag Race, Nymphia Wind (妮妃雅), was on Friday crowned the “Next Drag Superstar.” Dressed in a sparkling banana dress, Nymphia Wind swept onto the stage for the final, and stole the show. “Taiwan this is for you,” she said right after show host RuPaul announced her as the winner. “To those who feel like they don’t belong, just remember to live fearlessly and to live their truth,” she said on stage. One of the frontrunners for the past 15 episodes, the 28-year-old breezed through to the final after weeks of showcasing her unique