Following the recall of nearly 7 tonnes of eggs over fears they contain high levels of dioxin, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) yesterday said it has inspected 688 retailers and eateries and found them to be free of the questionable produce.
Laboratory tests showed that eggs sold by a distributor in Miaoli County had dioxin levels exceeding allowable limits, with the eggs traced to three chicken farms in Changhua County, the administration reported on Friday.
The administration issued a recall, with all vendors required to comply by 3pm on Saturday.
As of 2pm yesterday, the agency said 688 retailers and eateries that had purchased the eggs from the three farms and their four down-stream distributors had been inspected, and 6.785 tonnes of eggs had been removed from shelves.
Dioxins are highly toxic compounds that include 75 types of polychlorinated dibenzodioxins and 135 types of dibenzofurans and are formed in the burning or production of chlorine-based chemical compounds, the administration said.
Dioxins can be spread in the air and settle on soil or underwater sediment, where they can enter the food chain and be absorbed by plants, eventually ending up in the bodies of animals and humans, it said, adding that 90 percent of dioxins detected in humans are attributable to food consumption, including dairy products, fish and eggs.
“Long-term exposure to dioxin can increase the risk of developing several types of cancer, including lymphoma and lung cancer,” Linkou Chang Gung Memorial Hospital nephrologist Yen Tzung-hai (顏宗海) said.
Dioxins are fat-soluble and accumulate in fat, so if people lose weight and avoid food high in fat or oil, they are likely to reduce their levels of dioxins, and also reduce their risk of developing cardiovascular disease, Taipei Veterans General Hospital toxicologist Yang Chen-chang (楊振昌) said.
The administration said that since 2004 it has began inspecting food products that are more likely to accumulate dioxins, including meat, eggs and dairy products.
Dioxins were detected in goose eggs in Changhua County in 2005, but last week’s case was the first time dioxin residues exceeding legal limits have been found in chicken eggs.
As the agency is focused on tracing the origin of the dioxins found in the latest case, it will also consider expanding its eggs inspections, administration Director-General Wu Shou-mei (吳秀梅) said.
EUROPEAN TARGETS: The planned Munich center would support TSMC’s European customers to design high-performance, energy-efficient chips, an executive said Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電), the world’s largest contract chipmaker, yesterday said that it plans to launch a new research-and-development (R&D) center in Munich, Germany, next quarter to assist customers with chip design. TSMC Europe president Paul de Bot made the announcement during a technology symposium in Amsterdam on Tuesday, the chipmaker said. The new Munich center would be the firm’s first chip designing center in Europe, it said. The chipmaker has set up a major R&D center at its base of operations in Hsinchu and plans to create a new one in the US to provide services for major US customers,
The Ministry of Transportation and Communications yesterday said that it would redesign the written portion of the driver’s license exam to make it more rigorous. “We hope that the exam can assess drivers’ understanding of traffic rules, particularly those who take the driver’s license test for the first time. In the past, drivers only needed to cram a book of test questions to pass the written exam,” Minister of Transportation and Communications Chen Shih-kai (陳世凱) told a news conference at the Taoyuan Motor Vehicle Office. “In the future, they would not be able to pass the test unless they study traffic regulations
GAINING STEAM: The scheme initially failed to gather much attention, with only 188 cards issued in its first year, but gained popularity amid the COVID-19 pandemic Applications for the Employment Gold Card have increased in the past few years, with the card having been issued to a total of 13,191 people from 101 countries since its introduction in 2018, the National Development Council (NDC) said yesterday. Those who have received the card have included celebrities, such as former NBA star Dwight Howard and Australian-South Korean cheerleader Dahye Lee, the NDC said. The four-in-one Employment Gold Card combines a work permit, resident visa, Alien Resident Certificate (ARC) and re-entry permit. It was first introduced in February 2018 through the Act Governing Recruitment and Employment of Foreign Professionals (外國專業人才延攬及雇用法),
‘A SURVIVAL QUESTION’: US officials have been urging the opposition KMT and TPP not to block defense spending, especially the special defense budget, an official said The US plans to ramp up weapons sales to Taiwan to a level exceeding US President Donald Trump’s first term as part of an effort to deter China as it intensifies military pressure on the nation, two US officials said on condition of anonymity. If US arms sales do accelerate, it could ease worries about the extent of Trump’s commitment to Taiwan. It would also add new friction to the tense US-China relationship. The officials said they expect US approvals for weapons sales to Taiwan over the next four years to surpass those in Trump’s first term, with one of them saying
RSS