Several food products that use raising agents were found to contain excessively high levels of aluminum, the Consumers’ Foundation said yesterday, adding that consumption of the non-ferrous metal could affect memory.
The foundation told a press conference that 66 percent of the 24 samples of doughnuts, fried dough sticks (youtiao, 油條), steamed buns (mantou, 饅頭), kelp and silk noodles (fensi, 粉絲) sold in the market that it tested in February were found to contain high levels of aluminum.
Aluminum was found in three of the six doughnuts tested, all six of the fried dough sticks tested, two of the six steamed buns, two of the three kelps and all three of the silk noodles, said Hwang Yu-sheng (黃鈺生), publisher of Consumer Reports magazine.
Photo: Taipei Times
Last year, the foundation found high levels of aluminum in waffles, pancakes and salted dried jellyfish, which had used aluminum-containing raising agents in the manufacturing process, foundation vice chairman Mark Chang (張智剛) said.
“Last year, the Joint FAO/WHO Expert Committee on Food Additives [JECFA] placed the recommended provisional tolerable weekly intake [PTWI] for aluminum at 2mg/kg body weight [bw], while the European Food Safety Authority placed it at 1mg/kg bw,” Chang said.
Taiwan has no legal limits on raising agents added to processed food, Chang said, making it difficult for consumers to know how much aluminum they have consumed.
According to the foundation’s test report, aluminum levels in two samples of doughnuts from a chain store and a hypermarket were found to range between 200 parts per million (ppm) and 300ppm.
All six samples of fried bread sticks from six traditional breakfast stores had an aluminum content of more than 200ppm, with four containing aluminum levels of between 400ppm and 600ppm.
Lee Cherh-yu (李哲瑜), an associate professor at Taipei Chengshih University’s Department of Food and Beverage Management, said that based on JECFA’s recommended PTWI of 2mg/kg for aluminum, a child weighing 30kg who consumes four doughnuts, with each containing 250ppm of aluminum, would exceed recommended limits in a week.
Many of the food products tested had probably used alum (aluminum potassium sulphate) as raising agents to make the texture of the food more appealing, Lee said.
“However, an excessive intake of aluminum has a correlation with Alzheimer’s disease,” he said. “And we are especially concerned about its effects on younger children’s growth and development, as well as on people with weaker metabolic functions.”
“If some of the samples tested did not contain aluminum food additives, then this proves that these products can be produced without the substance,” Hwang said.
“The foundation would therefore like to urge manufacturers to be responsible in upholding food safety for consumers and the government should establish standards on safe levels for aluminum in food products,” Hwang said.
The Food and Drug Administration said it was currently conducting a survey on the risk of exposure to aluminum in food in Taiwan and that it would pay close attention to see if the UN established new standards in the area.
Modifications on food additives regulations will be made based on the results of the survey and evaluations of international standards, it added.
CARROT AND STICK: While unrelenting in its military threats, China attracted nearly 40,000 Taiwanese to over 400 business events last year Nearly 40,000 Taiwanese last year joined industry events in China, such as conferences and trade fairs, supported by the Chinese government, a study showed yesterday, as Beijing ramps up a charm offensive toward Taipei alongside military pressure. China has long taken a carrot-and-stick approach to Taiwan, threatening it with the prospect of military action while reaching out to those it believes are amenable to Beijing’s point of view. Taiwanese security officials are wary of what they see as Beijing’s influence campaigns to sway public opinion after Taipei and Beijing gradually resumed travel links halted by the COVID-19 pandemic, but the scale of
TRADE: A mandatory declaration of origin for manufactured goods bound for the US is to take effect on May 7 to block China from exploiting Taiwan’s trade channels All products manufactured in Taiwan and exported to the US must include a signed declaration of origin starting on May 7, the Bureau of Foreign Trade announced yesterday. US President Donald Trump on April 2 imposed a 32 percent tariff on imports from Taiwan, but one week later announced a 90-day pause on its implementation. However, a universal 10 percent tariff was immediately applied to most imports from around the world. On April 12, the Trump administration further exempted computers, smartphones and semiconductors from the new tariffs. In response, President William Lai’s (賴清德) administration has introduced a series of countermeasures to support affected
Pope Francis is be laid to rest on Saturday after lying in state for three days in St Peter’s Basilica, where the faithful are expected to flock to pay their respects to history’s first Latin American pontiff. The cardinals met yesterday in the Vatican’s synod hall to chart the next steps before a conclave begins to choose Francis’ successor, as condolences poured in from around the world. According to current norms, the conclave must begin between May 5 and 10. The cardinals set the funeral for Saturday at 10am in St Peter’s Square, to be celebrated by the dean of the College
CROSS-STRAIT: The vast majority of Taiwanese support maintaining the ‘status quo,’ while concern is rising about Beijing’s influence operations More than eight out of 10 Taiwanese reject Beijing’s “one country, two systems” framework for cross-strait relations, according to a survey released by the Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) on Thursday. The MAC’s latest quarterly survey found that 84.4 percent of respondents opposed Beijing’s “one country, two systems” formula for handling cross-strait relations — a figure consistent with past polling. Over the past three years, opposition to the framework has remained high, ranging from a low of 83.6 percent in April 2023 to a peak of 89.6 percent in April last year. In the most recent poll, 82.5 percent also rejected China’s
RSS